Remix, The Beginning of the New Ending
by GraviRemix
Summary: A re-write of the beginning of the series, but with a different ‘universe’, a lot less slapstick, a little more realism, hoping to give the characters a chance at a better outcome. The re-write of the end of the series is published in another story line.
1. Competition

**About this piece** – I started a massive re-write of the Gravitation story a long while ago after watching the end of the anime and not being so happy with the outcome. The re-write began at the end of the story and then eventually circled back around to the beginning.

You can read what I have published so far of the revamped ending of the story here on if you're interested. Just look up -** Remix, Ending and a New Beginning**

In this series, there is a different 'universe' around the main characters, which is far less slapstick and more realistic. I always wonder what characters would be like under more normal circumstances. I enjoyed writing this. Shuichi has a lot of spunk and a lot of heart.

**Reviews** – Love them! That's what keeps me writing. The more reviews, the faster I'll clean and publish the chapters.

Please enjoy!

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Shuichi ran down the street at top speed, dodging unwitting and innocent pedestrians as he made his way to the end of his grand quest… The video game store.

It wasn't just any video game store. It was one on the opposite side of town from where he lived, in an upscale area. Their web inventory showed that they had 1 copy of StreetWars4 in stock still. Shuichi meant to claim that prize for himself at any cost, including skipping afternoon classes.

The chimes on the shop door rattled loudly as he made his entrance, quickly assessing the layout and racing toward the aisle to where it should have been… Only to discover some tall blond dude was looking in that spot too. An _empty_ spot. The guy was checking before and after it to see if it had been misfiled.

"Shit." Shuichi groaned and the blond looked over at him.

"What are you looking at, _punk_?" He sneered.

"A jerk trying to steal what's mine!" He yelped, then dashed to the counter, scaring the guy who was working there, "Hey!"

"Huh?"

"You still have the one StreetWars4 in stock?"

"Yeah. It's out there somewhere. Good luck finding it though." He smirked.

"Sweet!" He danced backward to almost run into that guy, "Hey! Move it!"

"Chh… You little twerp."

"Whatever! No time to talk!" He hopped back toward the aisles, wondering where someone would have hid it so they could find it and buy it later. The blond got the same idea and started to rifle through the games, "They didn't put it in with the PS games… I know!" He had an epiphany and hurried over to the other side of the wall where there were used games, "I'm gonna find it before that jerk. I have to!"

Shortly he was drooling and looking at his prize, concealed in the used games… until an arm reached over him and snagged it while he was daydreaming about the fun he was going to have that night.

"I'll take that." The blond smirked.

"HEY!" He protested and jumped, trying to grab it back, "Give it!"

"You were just _staring_. I'm ready to _buy_."

"You jerk! Gimmie my game! I found it fair and square!" Unfortunately the gaijin-looking guy was also a lot taller and could easily hold it up out of his reach.

"Outa my way, short stuff." He tried to shove by but Shuichi stomped his foot as hard as he could, "OW!"

"Score!" He grabbed the package when the guy bent over, "Nyah! See ya!" He flipped him the bird before running for the counter.

"Come back here you little shit!"

"Not a chance!" He slapped the game box down on the counter, "I win!"

"Good job. Where was it?"

"Used games, buried in the lame sports games." He grinned.

"Okay. Well hidden then."

He rang up the sale while Shuichi dug in his pockets for his money, the blond coming to loom over him.

"Back it up! I won fair and square! Deal with it!" Shichi snarled, "Ya big weird lookin' jerk."

"Weird looking? Ha! This from a kid that looks like he lost a bet… Magenta hair. Someone hate you pretty bad?"

"It's a unique _style_."

"It's unique, all right." He scowled, "Uniquely stupid."

"Hate to break up this pleasant conversation but… Pay me?" The store employee asked.

"I'm tryin'. Hang on… Where's my cash?" It suddenly dawned on him that he had left it back in the music room, "Oh, crap… Hey, can you hold on to this for me? I kinda left my cash back at school."

"No holds, kid." The guy behind the counter shrugged.

"Ho ho! Looks like my golden opportunity is here." The blond chuckled and got out his wallet.

"No way! No fair!" He protested in vain, watching money changing hands.

"Been fun." The blond winked, "Not…" He shoved Shuichi on his way toward the door.

"Come back here!" He raced out after him, "That is so unfair! You can't do this to me! You don't understand how long I've been waiting for this game!"

"And I don't really care either. Get lost."

"Oh come on! Have a heart you giant jerk!" He tried to grab the bag from him but ended up tripping them both up, his backpack shooting papers all over the sidewalk as they fell, "OW!"

"Hey! Get off me!!" He pushed Shuichi off him and onto the sidewalk among his scattered things, "What the hell is your problem??"

"I want that game! Give it!"

"Not a chance in hell, you spastic little brat!" He picked himself up from the mess, giving Shuichi a smack in the head.

"Ow!"

"Stupid kid." He marched off.

Shuichi righted himself and threw his stuff back into his bag in a hurry, running after the guy, "HEY!"

"Can't you take a hint? You lose, loser."

"Look, just have mercy on me and at least let me play a game with you?? Please?? I'm begging you!"

He stopped in his tracks, glaring at Shuichi who was wringing his hands and trying to look as pathetic as possible. Finally the guy huffed and his shoulders dropped.

"Fine. One game. That's it!"

"YES! Thank you!!"

"And shut up! You're giving me a headache!"

"Okay!" He followed along, doing his best not to say anything but it was hard. It was turning into a long walk though, "How long is it before we get to your place?"

"Shut… Up…"

"Sorry!"

"When we get there we get there. You can leave at any time you like."

"I'm coming. No matter how long it takes." He nodded.

They ended up in a very nice neighborhood, going into a very nice, low-rise apartment building and up to the third floor. The apartment was huge and extremely clean and modern.

"Woah… Your parents must be _loaded_!" Shuichi gawked at the audio and video components.

"My _parents_?" His left eyebrow went up.

"Figures, you're spoiled from a rich family." He smiled proudly, "Let's play!"

"Chh…" The guy walked away and went down a hallway.

"Hey! Where are you going??"

"I'm getting a drink for God's sake! Shut it!"

"Oh. Okay. Get me one too!" He followed along into the big kitchen, "Wow. Nice."

The guy got a foreign label beer out of the fridge and popped the top. Shuichi held out his hand with a smile.

"Fat chance, kid. What are you? 15?"

"Hey! I'm 18! I'll be 19 soon!"

"Not soon enough and not old enough anyway. You can have water, juice, soda or coffee. _Decaff_ coffee… I can't take you any more hyped up than you already are."

"Beer!"

"No."

"Beer!"

"Drop dead, punk. You get nothing."

"Soda…" He frowned under the glare and accepted a cold can from his angry host, "Thanks… Man, you're scary..."

"_You're_ the scary one." Again he walked away.

"You're not very friendly! I'm a guest! You shouldn't keep turning your back on me!"

"You're an _unwanted_ guest. Do you want me to kick you out?"

"No…"

"Then just shut up. Are you capable of that?"

"Maybe…"

"Try it. You might like it. I know I would."

"The hell? What'd I ever do to you?" He pursued his host back to the living area again.

"Aside from stamp on my foot and trip me on the sidewalk then fall on me? Not much more than that… yet."

"That was all fair combat. You know it."

"Are you off your meds?" He picked up the bag and retrieved the game box.

"Meds? Huh?"

"Never mind…" He split the package open and Shuichi came toward it like a moth to the flame.

"Wow… It even _smells_ good."

"Quit drooling." He yanked it away.

"Awww! Lemmie look!"

"Sit down and shut up." He went to the impressive rack of components.

"Fine." Shuichi huffed and sat down on the expensive leather sectional, his host whipping a game controller at him. Fortunately he caught it instead of getting nailed in the face. He was about to complain when the game started to load, "Woah…"

"At least you might be quiet for a while." He picked up a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table and plunked down beside Shuichi, lighting up.

"That's a nasty habit." Shuichi said.

"Again…if you don't like it _leave_." He blew a smoke ring around Shuichi's head, he trying desperately to fan it away.

"You're gonna stunt your growth… Oh wait…You're already a freaking giant." He got smacked in the face with a throw pillow, "Ouch!"

Despite the less than humorous nature of his host, the game was awesome. The competition was great too. They were pretty evenly matched once his opponent got the hang of the new moves that Shuichi had been reading up on for the past few months. They ordered pizza and kept playing. Apparently his host had forgotten the one game limit pretty quickly once they were into it.

"You don't have a family to go home to?"

"I do, but they're used to me not showing up on the weekends. Yay, Friday." He took a break to scarf down some food and hit the guest bathroom which was also huge and modern, "Woah… This place is off the charts." He finished his business and went back into the living area, "What do your parents do to afford a place like this?"

"My parents…"

"Yeah." He plunked back down on the sofa, "This place has everything! Aren't they coming home? It's getting kinda late…"

The blond just blinked at him.

"Whhaaaat? What's that look for? What am I missing?"

"A load of brain cells, near as I can figure it." He smirked, "And what the hell is this?" He held up a piece of paper that had leaked out of Shuichi's backpack.

"Oh… It's a song I'm writing."

"A song?? You??"

"Hey, don't mock me!" He tried to grab for it but again it was held away.

"It looks like a retarded chimp wrote this. Is this really your handwriting??"

"Yeah it is!"

"I hope you just had the caffeine shakes or something. Holy shit, this is awful. Is this supposed to be a love song??"

"So _what_?"

"It's the biggest load of crap I've ever read. Are you trying to make someone throw up with lyrics like this? Hoo hoo… Better not graduate high school yet. You need a few more decades."

"What the hell do _you_ know about writing?? I'm gonna be famous one day and then you'll be sorry!"

"I sure as hell would be sorry if this steaming pile made you famous. That would surely signal the end of civilization."

"You're such an asshole!" He snatched it back at last, "There's nothing wrong with this! I've been working all month on it! I know it needs some work but—"

"SOME work? SOME??" He nearly laughed himself off the sofa.

"Why don't you shut up??" He started to lay waste to the guy with the throw pillows until they were rolling on the floor, "You're such a dick! When I'm famous I'm going to hire someone to follow you around 24x7 and tell you what an asshole you are!"

"I don't think you'll be able to afford that on a burger-flipper's salary, but keep dreaming."

"I will! You'll see! My band is gonna rule the world!"

"Pffffft." He laughed again, "I haven't laughed this hard in ages!"

"I hate you!" He got up and went back to eating pizza.

"Not enough to quit eating my food." He sat up, raking his fingers through his blond hair.

"Free food is good food, even if _you_ bought it." He flipped the guy off and stuffed more into his mouth.

Eventually he was booted out and made his way to the subway to go home. In the morning he told Hiro about his evening of video game joy over breakfast before they started to practice.

"You jerk. Playing without me."

"I was _trying_ to buy it so we could play together today… Just didn't work out the way I planned." He shrugged.

"So what's that guy's name?"

Shuichi opened his mouth and then stopped, closing it and thinking.

"Don't tell me, you don't know? You didn't ask?"

"I guess not. I don't remember it. We didn't exactly formally introduce ourselves… or _like_ each other."

"From the way you're talking, you like him _too_ much."

"Huh??"

"You've been talking about him non-stop all morning. Are you in wuv?" Hiro grinned at him.

"Not! Shut up!"

"A dirty, sticky, one night stand with a total stranger. All he had to do was wave a video game in front of you. You little slut, Shuichi. I had no idea you had it in you! Heh heh…"

"You're just gross…"

But that night he wandered back the way he had gone the afternoon before, stopping at the security door of the exclusive building. There were no names by the buzzers. He pressed the buzzer for 14 which was the number he remembered on the door going in. No luck.

"Jerk. Figures you'd be out just to piss me off." He grumbled and pressed the buzzer a few more times for good measure just as a car pulled up to the adjoining carport.

"Hey… What the hell do you think you're doing there, punk?"

He turned around to see the blond guy in a sports car, "Ringing your buzzer, duh."

"Bug off. I didn't invite you back." He pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car, wandering over, "Well?"

"Your parents let you drive their sports car? Are they on vacation or something? I bet they'd be pissed." He got another thwack on the side of the head, "Ouch! Hey!"

"_Parents_…" He scoffed and unlocked the door.

"What? You don't have parents? You were hatched from an egg? For you, that'd make sense, actually." He followed inside, "So where'd they go?" He asked as they got into the elevator, the blond just staring at him, "Whaaat?"

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

"No, I'm not _kidding_ you. Why would I?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"Beats me." He shrugged.

"I'm 27. I don't live with my _parents_."

"27?? Woah, you're old! You don't _look_ that old."

"Hey! I'm not _old_."

"You're almost like 10 years older than me. That's _old_. You still play video games?"

"What do _you_ think?" He scowled.

"Aren't you too old for that?"

"You think you're going to just suddenly stop playing video games when you hit 25 or something?" He folded his arms indignantly.

"Well, I guess I see your point."

"Super."

"You use a lotta English words too. Are you an American?"

"No, I'm 100 percent Japanese." The elevator opened and he stepped off, Shuichi following along, curious.

"Seriously? You don't really look Japanese… Maybe a little tiny bit but you're really tall and like blond and stuff."

"Yeah yeah. I know." He unlocked his apartment door and Shuichi squeezed in with him, "Did I invite you in? No. Get going, brat."

"Aww, be nice. I came for a rematch!" He grinned and then bowed, "I'm Shuichi Shindou by the way. I forgot we didn't do introductions! What's your name?"

Again there was the look of shock on his face--the look that told Shuichi he was missing something that was blatantly obvious to most other people. Unfortunately, he was all too familiar with seeing that look on other people's faces.

"Stop looking like that and just tell me already!" He yelped.

"You're serious…" He folded his arms.

"Uh, _duh_?".

"Eiri." He said.

"First or last?"

"This has _got_ to be a joke…" He turned and walked off toward the kitchen.

"Why's it gotta be a joke??" He pursued yet again, "Beer please!"

"No beer. Coffee time." He started to go through an involved process with an elaborate coffee maker while Shuichi perched on a stool at the island in the kitchen, watching.

"So… What's your _whole_ name? Are you going to tell me or what?"

Eiri shook his head, "It's Yuki Eiri."

"Cool name… So is your family rich or something? Did you inherit a lot of money?"

"What, I look like I can't have a job?"

"You don't look like a salary man type… and you're way too snooty to flip burgers. So I figure if this place is yours then you inherited a load of money."

Eiri came and leaned on the kitchen island, looking at Shuichi for a while with that too-cool standard expression of his, "You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?"

"Huh?? Hey, be nice!"

"I _am_ being nice… I didn't kick you out… So why should I let you stay? What's in it for me?"

"The joy of being around a me, of course! I'm going to be famous one day!" He smiled proudly.

"Get out."

"No, really… I will be." He nodded.

"No, really… Get out of my apartment." He nodded mockingly.

"Aww, come on. Lighten up. I did actually bring you bribes!"

"Hurry up and tell me then."

He plunked his backpack on the counter and pulled out a bag, "Chocolate donuts! Hot ones. The place down the street just took them out of the oven." He waved them in front of Yuki's nose, "Yummy yummy, Yuki."

He snatched the bag away, "What else?"

"I brought over some hard-to-get games to see if you wanna play them." He pulled out a few, "Well?"

"All right. You can stay."

"Cool!!" He did a short victory dance in his seat.

"Quiet." He turned his attention back to the coffee maker and shortly placed a cup in front of Shuichi whose eyes were wide.

"Wow. That smells _awesome_."

"It should. I bet you only drink instant."

"Yeah." He took the cup and sniffed again, having a sip and shivering, "Wow… It tastes better than it smells. You make _great_ coffee, Yuki."

"You're welcome."

"Oh… Oops. Thanks." He shrugged, "When I'm famous, I'll give you an autograph."

"_Famous_…" He scoffed and sipped at his own cup.

"Just you wait and see! I'm gonna be huge! Just like… Gackt or something."

"Uh huh… You already look like a Harajuku Girl…"

"Screw you, jerk." He flipped the bird again, "I'm gonna be dating models!"

"Dating models isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Like _you'd_ know."

"Yeah… Um hmm… My estimation stands… Dull knife. More like a spoon." He smirked and headed back to the living area with the bag of donuts, "Big wooden spoon with rounded edges…"

"You're so mean! Do you have _any_ friends?" He pursued again.

"Not so surprisingly, I have very few. I prefer it that way."

"Well that sucks… You could hang out with me and Hiro and play video games."

"You and Hiro?"

"Hiroshi… He's my guitarist."

"Oh ho… In your 'band'. I almost forgot." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. He's _really_ great. Total natural talent."

"And what instrument do you play, pray tell?"

"Keyboards and I sing."

"Ah… Singer and songwriter."

"Yep!"

"What is this band's name?"

"We don't exactly have one right now…" He sat down on the sofa with his backpack and coffee, at least pleased to see that his angry new friend was going to eat the donuts, "Save one for me."

"Maybe you should call yourself 'Donut'." He set the bag down in front of Shuichi after taking one for himself.

"Nah… It's not strong enough. _Intense_."

"Neither are your lyrics."

"What are you? A music critic? Jerk…"

"No, I'm not a professional music critic." He had another sip and sat beside Shuichi, "But I know crap lyrics when I read them."

"You'll see… We're going to rule the world of rock."

"Uh huh… Good donuts."

"You're _welcome_."

Yuki actually smiled slightly, "Thanks. I'll give you an autograph when I'm famous."

"Let's play!"

Shuichi surprised himself by waking up on that same sofa near dawn.

"Huh?" He sat up, dazed, "When did I fall asleep?"

He pulled the blanket off him. At least Yuki had been kind enough to cover him instead of dumping him in the hallway for a neighbor to find when he'd nodded off.

One thing he noticed immediately was that it was really really quiet. He got up and wandered to the guest bathroom then down the hall further. He was curious… There inside a sparse modern bedroom, Yuki was asleep in a big bed. For some reason, it felt really lonely.

"You really need some friends, Yuki." He sighed, "I guess I'll have to volunteer." Inside of him, there was a good guy. Shuichi was sure of it. Had seen little glimpses of it here and there. He wandered over to the bed and sat down, reaching out and touching his blond hair, surprised by its softness, "Hey, Yuki…"

"Huh? Oh… You…"

"Sorry, I guess I fell asleep… I'm going home."

"Sure. Later." He rolled away, pulling up the covers.

"Yeah. I'll leave you those games… But you have to give 'em back. Okay?"

"Mmh…"

"Morning."

"Uh huh." Yawn.

Hiro gave him a hard time again over breakfast at their favorite cheap restaurant near his new apartment, "Sleeping over and even a walk of shame at sunrise. Your parents must be so embarrassed to have their precious son showing up at the crack of dawn after an all-nighter with some old guy."

"Ha ha… Just because you have a place of your own now you don't have to keep rubbing it in, yanno."

"Sure I do." He continued to leer at Shuichi, "He musta worn you out, tiger. How can you still sit?"

"Shut up, already." He threw a wadded up napkin at him across the table they were sharing.

"You really do like him though. You let him borrow your best games."

"He needs a friend." He shrugged, "He's like some rich hermit."

"Better than being a _poor_ hermit." He got another dirty smile on his face, "I hope you used protection."

Shuichi just groaned and shook his head. It would definitely be a long time before Hiro would let this one go…


	2. Revelation Rollercoaster

**More Story Comments** – I know… There's no meeting in the park… But I thought that video games would be more appropriate for them to bond over and give Shuichi a reason to keep coming back, and Eiri something to do other than hide alone in his apartment. In general, the beginning of this version of the story loosely follows a mix of the manga and TV series time-lines with some obvious exceptions. I wanted to spend some time exploring more of the interactions between Shuichi and Eiri, the emotions that both of them are struggling with. In my opinion, Shuichi is far stronger, more resilient than Eiri on a number of levels. He may be a 'simple' character, but he's not a complete idiot, as I have often seen his character portrayed. He has good intentions, he's very straightforward. He doesn't tend to hide his emotions, unlike the person to whom he has given his heart. For the most part, Shuichi doesn't lie… Only those little naughty white lies. He doesn't plan ahead or think of the consequences of his actions, however! He follows his heart wherever it leads him. Yeah, I like Shuichi. He has grown on me. :)

**Hope you will enjoy more of the back story… Please read and review!**

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A few weeks later he had been racking up a lot of time bothering Yuki in between working on his songs, part-time job, and practice with Hiro. The more time he spent over at the expensive apartment, the more he was wondering why Yuki was always alone. Every single time he went over, there was no one around. It was just Yuki and his crisp button-down shirts and slacks, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, shaggy blond hair falling over his annoyed expression at seeing Shuichi yet again. Shuichi just grinned to try to counteract his sour face, trying to get at least a good solid smirk out of the guy. It was a challenge to get him to smile for real.

There was just something about him… Shuichi was worried that Hiro was actually right… He _liked_ Yuki… even if he was a cold guy… a _guy_... He just couldn't keep himself away from that apartment, from wanting to just be with him, talk to him.

The words on the paper in front of him—his latest songwriting effort—had come very easily, to his surprise. As he read it over again, he realized why and felt his stomach knot up. It was about Yuki. He hadn't thought about it at all while he was writing it. It just came pouring out of him. '_Stranger, I love you_'.

"Holy crap, I'm _never_ going to live this down in _sooo_ many ways." He groaned, laying his head on the desk beside the paper, racking his brain to figure out all of the feelings he was having.

A few of nights before, he'd shown up on Yuki's doorstep again, feeling exhausted from a bad day at school and another hard evening at work. Yuki had given him that look of being about to rip him a new one for showing up so late to bug him. Shuichi had just hung his head and got ready for the storm, but apparently he looked just pathetic enough to be spared. Yuki grabbed him by the collar of his school uniform jacket and dragged him inside, into the elevator.

"Wha—? No yelling?" Shuichi was still shocked.

"Nah. You look as wiped out as I feel. It's no fun when you don't fight back. Hungry? I got take out…"

"Yeah, _totally_." His stomach growled loudly at the mere thought of being fed. Working in a restaurant on an empty stomach with a manager that watched him like a hawk… there wasn't a chance of snagging something to eat on the sly. It was pure torture.

"Well, that was pretty disgusting…"

"Sorry. I'm _starved_."

"Then you have to help."

"Help?"

"Yeah… put the plates on the table without breaking anything. Think you can pull that off?"

"I can give it a shot."

"Good for you."

It was a pretty warm night for early spring so they sat on the balcony, looking down the hill toward the city. Music was on the expensive stereo in the other room. Shuichi caught himself thinking how romantic it was to be sharing a peaceful, moonlit meal with Yuki. He shook his head hard, trying to get that thought out of his mind.

"What the… What are you doing over there? Have a flea? Grow a brain cell by accident?" Yuki smirked at him in a lazy way that made Shuichi gulp. The thought in his head then was just how sexy Yuki looked at the moment. Blond hair tousled, pale skin exposed by his half unbuttoned shirt, long fingers absently turning his beer bottle on the table, "Did you just go into a coma?"

"Uh… No." He shook his head again.

"Kid, I think you've overworked yourself. You better take a break."

"Yeah, I need one… Thanks for the food."

"Welcome. Just promise you're not going to croak on my balcony."

"I'm fine. I just need some sleep. I better go home." He got up.

"Okay… I don't even have to kick you out. Where's the real Shuichi?" He yawned.

"Apparently somewhere out of his mind. Later."

"Yep."

Now, Shuichi was just banging his head on his desk at home over the reoccurring memories of feeling attraction for another guy… And then his sister returned home very loudly.

"Oh my GOD you make so much noise for one girl!" He came out of his room, yelling at her as she was going into hers, fulfilling his brotherly obligation to pick on her.

"I hate you, Shuichi!" She made a face and slammed her door shut but not before he saw something that she was carrying.

"What the… Hey!" He crossed the hallway and pushed the door open.

"GET OUT!!" She squealed and then he grabbed the magazine out of her hand, "Give it back!"

It was a fan magazine and Yuki's face was on the cover, "What the hell?"

"Give me back my Yuki-sensei!" She yanked it away.

"You _know_ this guy?"

"Who _doesn't_ know him?? Illiterate dumb-ass!" She shoved him out the door and slammed it again, locking it to make sure he didn't get back in.

"Kids! Keep it down up there! It sounds like the house is falling down!" Their mom called up the stairs.

"Sorry!"

He went back into his room and immediately went onto the internet, looking up Yuki Eiri. Apparently Shuichi _was_ actually a dumb-ass. The rich hermit was a _famous_ rich hermit… who dated models. There were pictures of him all over the web with hot babes on his arm.

"Holy shit! He is actually famous!" He kept flicking through the pictures. A famous writer too. No wonder he had ripped on Shuichi's lyrics, "Oh man… He must think I'm a _total_ moron… Well… He does any way, doesn't he?"

At least Yuki had shown up for the amateur concert hall show he and Hiro had played in the weekend before. Not that he had anything good to say about it… but at least he had come… Just Yuki's appearance there in the back of the club had made his energy soar that night.

Shuichi leaned forward, his head on his desk again. He had been trying to stay away for the past few days, to see if he'd get over it all, but it definitely wasn't working. He was jealous of every one of those chicks in the pictures. Fighting with his sister had only temporarily distracted him. The truth was still there. No amount of time away would change it.

"I _miss_ you…" He sighed.

He wandered over to Yuki's place after his shift at the restaurant the next night, weary, but really wanting to see him after the self-imposed hiatus. Yuki let him in with minimal grief and Shuichi was glad to have another cup of amazing coffee as a reward for his hard day.

"What brings you tonight, neon school boy?" He mocked Shuichi's uniform and hair.

"Just thought you'd be missing me." He smiled wearily.

"Not hardly."

"Aw, quit it, Yuki." He whined, "I've had a hard day."

"And you thought you'd come over here and I'd be nice to you?"

"Not really… But I guess I wanted to see you anyway… Hey, Yuki?"

"What?"

"How come you didn't tell me you're famous?" He frowned.

"_Tell_ you? Most people don't _need_ to be told that. You're one freak exception to the rule. How'd you finally figure it out, genius?" He leaned on the counter, sipping his coffee, his gold eyes laughing at Shuichi's ignorance.

"My sister turns out to be a fan of yours. I saw you on a magazine she had yesterday."

"Ah. Super. So?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. I just wish you'd told me."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like a total dope. I had no idea. It's no wonder you think I'm dumb."

"That's not the _only_ reason." He smirked.

"Ha ha."

"Wow, what a sourpuss. What's eating you? Usually you're high on life. You've been dragging around for a week now. Someone take away your vitamins?"

Shuichi just fidgeted for a little while before testing the waters, "I have a problem… and I want to talk to you about it but I think you'll just laugh at me."

"Chances are good." He nodded.

"Come on, this is _serious_… Just give me a break, _okay_?" He whined, feeling the panic rising from deep inside him.

"Fine fine. What's going on?"

"I… I don't really know what's going on with me… I just…" He sighed heavily.

"Spit it out."

"I'm _trying_. It's not easy… I don't know how it happened…"

Yuki waited, drinking his coffee while Shuichi stared into his own cup, heart pounding in the silence. He tried to speak but every time he opened his mouth, nothing would come out. Yuki raised an eyebrow at the scene then reached over and tapped on his head.

"Hello?"

"I'minlovewithyou." He blurted out in one word.

Yuki stood up straight, "Say what?"

"I'm in love with you."

"Umm… _What_?"

"How can I say it other than that??"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know!" He whimpered.

"How can you be in love with me? You don't even _know_ me. You only just figured out my profession."

"Even I don't totally get it, but it's there and I can't stop it." He sniffled.

"You're gay?"

"No!" He protested immediately.

"You're in love with a guy. That makes you gay."

"Well… Fine! I'll be gay then."

Yuki frowned, "You're a piece of work. I knew this was a mistake..." He grumbled.

"Huh?" That wasn't what he had expected Yuki to say. This wasn't heading in a good direction.

"You're just like the rest… Get out and don't come back."

"Wh… What? No!"

"Get… Out!" He snarled.

"Why?? So _what_ if I'm in love with you? I just _am_, okay??"

"You're just another goddamn liar. That's what you _really_ are. Get lost, kid. Beat it!"

"No! I won't go! You have to listen to me! I don't _care_ who you are to the rest of the world or what you write or _any_ of that junk!"

"Bullshit. You couldn't get over here fast enough when you figured out who I was."

"That's _not_ true! I loved you before I even knew! I wish I didn't know it now so you would believe me!"

"Chh… You probably knew all along, didn't you? Pretending not to know, getting in my life and lying your ass off like _everyone_ else. Get out!" He turned his back on the tears that were rising in Shuichi's eyes.

"No! Please!" He jumped off the stool, grabbed the back of Yuki's shirt, trying to keep him from walking away, "I just… I don't want _anything._"

Yuki turned around then, tearing his hand away, "Everyone _wants_ something from me! What do _you_ want, huh?? For me to write lyrics that don't _suck_ for your lame high school garage band?" He backed Shuichi up against the wall, "To get you an in with Seguchi? Or do you just want to get me into a publicly uncomfortable position so you can blackmail me? Pick your poison, kid, because I'm getting bored. If it's money you want, I'll fuckin' pay you to leave and not come back."

His glare was the most painful thing that Shuichi had ever felt. He was so _angry_. Not just the usual play anger… This was _serious_. Anyone else would have run away, but Shuichi couldn't. He was desperate for Yuki to believe him.

"What are you _talking_ about?? I don't want _any_ of that… I don't want your fame, your money, your connections… Just don't make me go… All I want… All I want is _you_!" He hiccuped back a sob.

Shuichi saw something on Yuki's face then… through the anger… the fury was subsiding.

"You don't even _know_ me… How can you possibly stand there and say this soppy crap to me??"

Shuichi shook his head, sniffling, "I don't know… But it's true so I _have_ to… Do you think this is _easy_ for me? To say this stuff to a guy I just met like a month ago?? To a _guy_?? I just _love_ you… I _love_ you…" His heart was in every word, his soul reaching out for comfort from a man who he had just floored with his revelation to the point of rage. It was so frightening to feel this way, like nothing he had ever experienced, but his heart wouldn't keep his mouth shut, "Eiri… I love you so _much_… _Please_…"

The last of the anger washed away from his face. Shuichi gasped as Yuki descended on him… but gently… Lips finding his warmly, arms sliding around him. He felt his whole body relax and he kissed back clumsily at first, then just let Yuki teach him to kiss properly, his heart nearly exploding with joy. This person he loved was kissing him, not mocking him any longer, not angry, just holding him close… And then after a long while, seeming to hesitate and draw away… Shuichi reached for him desperately, bringing him back into their embrace over and over.

Eiri didn't even know what he was doing, yet there he was, kissing the kid, tasting the salt of his tears… Shuichi was reaching for him, whimpering happily and holding on, kissing back. Half of Eiri had figured that if he actually kissed the kid, he'd run away screaming… but he was melting instead, coming closer into his arms and just kissing him over and over… And Eiri was melting too, pulling open the school jacket, pulling up his shirt, fingers straying across soft warm skin, feeling Shuichi's pounding heart… Desire cascading across his consciousness… Collapsing on the floor with him, pulling off his coat, fingers in his hair, tongue in his mouth. Shuichi's kisses had been clumsy, novice, hesitant but excited at the same time… He realized that he was dealing with a virgin as Shuichi was doing his best to learn from example. He could have just had his way with him there and then… Was surprised at how aroused he was by the high school kid he had pinned to the floor of his kitchen. The fact remained that he was hard as a rock and Shuichi's thighs were pressing against his sides. His hand slid from Shuichi's chest down between his legs, finding that he wasn't at all kidding about what he felt. Shuichi's mouth pressed to his more firmly in response, fingers digging into his back.

"Mmh…. Mmmmhh…"

Eiri licked firmly along his jaw and then his throat, still tasting the salty tears that had been left there. Shuichi's hips were pressing to him.

"Aaaahhh… I _love_ you… Love me… _Please_ love me back." He moaned softly, sending more emotions ripping through Eiri's tattered mind until… "Aaaa! Uaaa! Yuki!"

All motion came to a halt, "What… did you just do?" He shifted and gave him a harsh look, Shuichi's face reddening.

"I… I'm sorry! I just… I couldn't help it!"

"What was _that_? Two minutes? Don't you have _any_ restraint? You're still fully clothed! What's the matter with you?"

"It wasn't like I could help it! You don't have to be so mean! I've never…I mean… I'm inexperienced okay? And I just kinda zoned out for a minute and…"

"Just shut up… What the _hell_ am I doing?" He sat up, fingers in his hair, head pounding.

Shuichi sat up too, "Don't be mad at me… I'm _sorry_." He hugged Eiri who wrestled to get disentangled and up off the floor, looking down on Shuichi, feeling his anger rise again.

"Get out."

"Whaaa? No way! Why that again?"

"You got what you wanted now get lost. Have a nice life freak. OUT!"

"That's not what I wanted! It's not like I forced you! It's not like I started it! _You_ kissed _me_!"

"Yeah yeah… Sorry about that."

"Sorry?? You're _sorry_?? Why did you do it?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe you'd head for the hills if you got a taste of what you were asking for. You didn't. I got carried away. I'll take the blame. Just leave."

"No! I don't want to!" He hopped up, trying to take hold of Eiri yet again, to hug him.

"Get off me! Don't _touch_ me! What the fuck is your problem??"

"I love you…" He whined, "I just want to stay a while… Talk to you. _Please_ don't make me go."

Eiri calmed down involuntarily at the sound of Shuichi's voice pleading with him. He seemed stuck to the spot he was standing on. Shuichi gulped, wiping at his face with the backs of his hands, trying to pull himself together.

"Yuki… This is the best thing I've _ever_ felt in my life… I was so _scared_…" He took a few hesitant steps forward, waiting for a negative reaction. When there was none he went to lean against Yuki, laying his head on Yuki's chest and hearing a panicked heartbeat there, "I still am I guess… But this makes me feel like it'll be okay… being close to you..." He slid his arms around Yuki, holding him. His body had gone stiff, resistant, "I'm _sorry_ I just laid this all on you… but I didn't know what else to do…" He sighed and then felt Yuki relaxing again, arms coming around him and holding.

"You really are a stupid kid…" His voice was shaking.

"Yeah, well… My dumb brain's gotten me this far. I won't complain too much."

"You should."

"You think I can get my money back if I return it?"

"Doubt it."

Yuki's fingers dove into his hair, arms hugging him tightly now. For a long while they stood there in silence and Shuichi bathed in every moment of the feeling of it, afraid to move and break the spell… but his hands started to wander over the crisp cotton shirt, wanting to explore Yuki's long body.

"What are you doing?" Yuki muttered.

"Umm… Getting to know your back?"

"I see…" He released the hug, holding Shuichi at arm's length, "Look… I…"

"Hey, so… Can I have more coffee?" He tried to diffuse the awkward situation with a smile. Yuki just looked emotionally spent.

"You want to talk about coffee _now_?"

"No, I want to _drink_ coffee… I'm trying to not get too serious on you again right away."

"I see."

"But… There's one more thing…" He went over to his backpack and pulled out a folded piece of paper, presenting it to Yuki.

"What's this?"

"It's a song. I wrote it for you… Maybe more _because_ of you."

"A song…" His eyebrow went up.

"Yep. Try and cut me a bit of slack on this one. It's how I feel. So don't read it now if you're just going to rip on me, even though that _is_ your favorite sport… Wait until I leave."

He grabbed his coffee mug and had a final slurp to finish off the now cool liquid, really just wanting to kiss Yuki more and more… He had no idea what Yuki was thinking or feeling about all of this sudden weirdness. Shuichi might not have been a super-genius, but even he could tell that there had been a load of stuff that was beyond the norm going on inside of Yuki. He didn't want to press his luck too much and end up back at 'get out'. At least he wasn't livid pissed any more. For the moment, he seemed to have returned to normal.

He heard the paper unfolding and looked over, "Hey! Not now!"

"I want to read it, so shut it."

"Aw, _man_…" He sighed watching Yuki's eyes moving over the paper, "I tried hard to make it neat… Do I get points for that?"

"Shh."

Eventually Yuki folded the paper and put it in his shirt pocket, coming to stand beside Shuichi where he was perched again on a stool at the kitchen island counter, waiting for the barrage of criticism. Instead, Yuki slid a hand over his back.

"No mean things to say?" He worried.

"Nope… Thank you."

"Welcome…"

"I thought you wanted to date models when you got famous?"

"Who says I can't be wrong? You've dated them, so…"

"And they're not so great. You're not missing anything… You honestly had no idea who I was until now, huh?"

"I still don't really know who you are." He shrugged, "You write… I'm not the kind of guy that picks up a book for fun."

"Go figure." He smirked.

"What about that chick you blew off to come to my show? You're dating her, right?"

"That chick… is my sister."

"Serious? The way you were talking it sounded like a date."

"In a manner of speaking, it _was_ a date… A date that I have to suffer through at least once a month to make her happy."

"Okay… So… Are you dating anyone right now? I never see you with anyone here but I saw all these pictures on the internet of you with hot chicks…"

"You looked me up on the internet. That's just great." He shook his head.

"I was curious when I saw your face plastered all over the cover of that magazine..." He shrugged, "So? Are you?"

"I'm not dating anyone. I don't _date_. I'm seen with people for various premieres and such."

"So you've never done a model?"

"I didn't say _that_. I just don't do relationships that last more than a day or so." He found his smokes and lit one, taking a deep drag, "Are you saying you want to date me, little gay neon school boy?"

Shuichi scowled at having a new title affixed to him, "Yes, that's what I'm saying… and you kissed me first so you're _gayer_." He pointed an accusing finger at Yuki who chuckled.

"I see… Ever been with a man?"

"No way!"

"Then why now, pray tell?"

"Because I _love_ you, dummy." He pouted, "Didn't you get that?"

"I got it. I just don't _get_ it."

"I'll let you know when I figure it out. I just know how I feel."

He nodded, "And you wrote as much… Shuichi… You live your life in a very simple way. To you, hooking up with me is a purely natural reaction to your emotions. You don't care about the consequences."

"What consequences?"

"I am a celebrity in my own way, right? People recognize me."

"So?"

"So… Do you know what I write? The genre?"

"Umm… Oh yeah! Romance novels." He made a face, "Stuff my sister gets all horny for."

"Exactly. What happens if I start dating you? All of those girls out there who are horny for my writing, are generally also horny for me. The two things go hand in hand. If I start dating a magenta-headed boy out of the blue… What would they think?"

"That you're gay." He shrugged.

"That's a problem, don't you think?"

"Why?" He blinked.

Yuki sighed and clapped a hand to his forehead, "Try and process this one on your own."

"Oh man… I'm totally missing the obvious again… Gaahhh…"

"Have more coffee. It might help." He retrieved the pot and refilled their cups.

"Yuki?… Are _you_ gay?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I've never been with a guy before… but apparently I felt like kissing you."

"Good. Then I'm not alone in this." He sighed and drank the hot liquid that he had come to associate with comfort, "Yuki… I really do love you."

"Yeah..."

"Please give me a chance… I'm so confused right now, but I know one thing for sure… That I love you and I want to be with you."

"Understood." He sighed and leaned against Shuichi where he sat on his usual kitchen stool, "Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm a little torn…"

"Huh?"

"Because I'm shocked… and I'm feeling defensive… and I want to distance myself from this… so I want you to leave."

"Yuki… _Please _don't make me go..." He hated to be back to that again. At least it was less loud this time around.

"But at the same time, it's been a few days… I want to play some video games with you…"

"Can I vote for option 2? I could go pick up some donuts."

"Nah… You look wiped out. Did you even sleep this week?"

"Not so much, actually… It's been a real shitty week…"

"How about I order a proper take out?"

"Okay. I'm starved."

"Chinese okay?"

"Perfect. Get some noodles."

"You got it. Go set up a game, huh?"

"Sure." He relaxed as Yuki caressed his hair, "Thanks."

"Not a problem. You better go clean up too." He chuckled.

Shuichi blushed hotly then hopped off the stool, making his way to the bathroom in a hurry.

He spent the evening there, playing games as usual with Yuki, talking about random things… and then Yuki yawned and stretched, signaling the end of the night.

"Yuki… Can I stay over?" He asked carefully, really just not wanting to be apart from him.

Eiri stiffened somewhat at the question, "No… I need to think now so you really do need to leave. That's the bottom line."

"Yukiii…" He whimpered.

Eiri looked at him sidelong, gold eyes seeming to be picking apart his very existence.

"_Please_ don't say I can't come back…"

"I wasn't going to say that. Give me a break and get going. You can come back tomorrow night."

"O…Okay."

"Now scram. It's a school night." He ushered Shuichi to the door and nudged him out.

"Umm… Night." He tried a little smile before Eiri shut the door in his face as usual. At least some of their relationship was still normal.

For a while he leaned against the wall by the sidewalk, overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Then a dopey grin slid across his face, "I _kissed_ him… Wow that was awesome… I can't believe I even—" He gulped, "How _embarrassing_." He slumped but then cheered up, "But that part was really good too! I don't know if I'm happy or what! Heh heh… Wow, I'm tired…" He wandered off to catch the train home.

* * *

**Please review! Next chapter coming soon.  
**

**If you like this, be sure to read _Remix, Ending and a New Beginning_ **


	3. Running

**More Story Comments** – Life just won't slow down to let Shuichi enjoy his new situation. Poor guy… At this rate he's bound to get sick!

Hope you will enjoy more of the back story…

**Please read and review! Even a one-liner saying "Keep going" would be great :)**

* * *

The next afternoon Shuichi was on his doorstep again looking frazzled and out of breath. He must have sounded like a dirty phone call over the intercom when Yuki buzzed him in.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Eiri cocked his head to the side at Shuichi's panting, leaning in the apartment doorway.

"Okay… So… I know you said I know nothing about you…" Gasp…

"Correct." He folded his arms, wondering where this was going.

"Right… So… Your family is over-the-top weird, isn't it?"

He smirked, "Isn't everyone's?" He reached out and took Shuichi by the sleeve of his school jacket, pulling him inside and shutting the door.

"Your family's _beyond_ the normal though."

"Why do you say that?" He wandered toward the kitchen to get coffee, Shuichi trailing after him, dragging his backpack.

"Because… I met your sister today." He hauled himself onto his usual stool at the kitchen island, sprawling forward onto the cool surface.

"Did you?"

"Yeah… Mika, right?… I had no idea your sister… was married to Touma Seguchi…" Yuki's rant from the day before all made sense now.

"She is indeed." He nodded and placed a cup of coffee on the counter in front of the exhausted kid.

"Oh… Thanks." He sat up, "But maybe… Water?" Pant.

"Sure… How did you meet Mika?" He took a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the fridge water dispenser, handing it over to Shuichi who gulped it down in record time.

"Ahhh…" He breathed a sigh of relief, "Because she kidnapped me from school today in the middle of a class!!" His eyes bulged.

"You don't say…" He enjoyed his own coffee while watching the drama unfold.

"Did you put her up to it??"

"No. No one controls Mika. Especially not me."

"Oh… Well… I hope there's no more like her in your family."

"None. Mercifully, I only have one sister… What did she want with you?"

"For some reason she's got the idea that I can make you go visit your dad back home."

"I see." He smirked, "Apparently she decided to get back at me."

"Huh?"

"She was mad that I blew her off to go see your performance." He took his time about answering completely, having another drink, "Touma and some of his lackeys were there scouting talent. Apparently he told her that I was there… Touma put the pieces together far more quickly than you are right now."

"Ummm…"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Yeah, please." He nodded, taking his first sip of coffee now that he had cooled off a bit, "This is totally good coffee! It's different from what you usually make."

"Glad you like it. Just bought it this morning. Though I would try something different."

"I _love_ your coffee… It's not like crystal mix stuff."

"Hell no. I don't drink that _crap_." He sneered.

"Must be nice to be rich, Mister 'I have three sports cars for no good reason and a huge apartment'." He made a face and Eiri found himself smiling.

"It _is_ nice. You probably drink the stuff out of the vending machine cans too."

"Yeah… So? I'm a student! Check it!" He tugged on his school uniform, "Poor as dirt and proud."

"Chh… Proud. Do you even have a job, lazy? Or do you just skulk around on street corners after school being a degenerate?"

"I'm not _lazy_! I have a job! Why do you think I usually show up here so late?? I have to make money for equipment for the band. I usually work four days a week, as well as being in school and being in a band, so eat it, _snob_!"

"How do you find the time to stalk me then?"

"I'm not _stalking_ you… and I have to go to work pretty soon actually…" He grumbled.

"Is it far from here?"

"I have to go back and catch the train."

"Would you like this snob to drive you there in one of his sports cars instead?"

"Um… That would be nice." He blinked in surprise, clutching the warm coffee cup and staring at Yuki who was just looking at him. A blush came to Shuichi's face as much as he tried to stop it.

"Well… Judging from your blush you haven't changed your mind since yesterday."

"No. Of _course_ not. You don't just turn feelings on and off like a light switch." He looked into his cup, feeling shy.

"Well… We got a little off track so let me put the puzzle together for you… I went to your show instead of my 'date' with my sister. She got pissed and complained to Touma I blew her off, probably for some chick I was banging. He saw me at your show while he was scouting talent. I've never gone out to the live shows that NRG puts on to check out new artists even though I've been invited repeatedly. He sorted out that I blew off Mika for someone in your band since I left once you were done so he got your information from the event coordinators. He then reported back to Mika, which also explains her very short rant call to me… 'I can't believe you blew me off for some skinny high school brat you asshole!'."

"Yow…"

"Yeah… So she got your info from Touma and tracked you down inappropriately… deciding that if you had sway with me to get me to see your show, she might be able to bribe you to get me to do what she wants through you."

"She's kinda _scary_."

"That she is." He agreed, "So she wants you to make me go home for a visit with my old man…"

"That was pretty much it. She said he was dying and stuff. Is that _true_?"

"No, it's not true. She's just being dramatic. The only dying he's doing is dying to get me to come home so I can listen to him tell me how to live my life. He and my mother don't approve... I don't feel the need to go home so they can tell me that over and over and over."

"That's a relief… I thought she was serious!"

"She's seriously psycho and that's about it."

"So… what's not to approve of? You're rich and snobby and I guess famous, if you read your kinda books… My sister thinks you're to die for… At least now I know why you harshed on my lyrics so hard."

"Not because I'm a writer, but because they suck ass, brat. Anyone could see that." Smirk.

"Screw you…" He scowled, "I'm doing the best I can right now… And people seemed to like it at the show."

"True. It's just banal enough to appeal to the masses… So what did she offer you if you got me to go home?"

"Well, nothing at first, she just tried _yelling_ at me a lot… Then she said that she'd make her husband listen to a demo from our band."

"Very nice prize. What did you say?"

"I said yes."

"I see." He frowned.

"And then when I got far enough away I told her no, that I wasn't going to get involved in your family business and I ran all the way here to tell you… I think I lost her." He shrugged, "She runs pretty fast in heels…"

Eiri smiled again, "That's my sister, all right… Why would you turn her down? All you needed to do was tell me to go home and you'd get your demo in the door at NRG."

"Because it's like you said… I don't know anything about you really. This sure proves it! So I have no right to get involved in your family stuff, bribe or not… I mean… I'd _like_ to know more about you, but not so I can stick my nose in to your business."

"Interesting." He rounded the island counter and approached Shuichi where he was perched on his stool with his coffee cup, "It was stupid not to take that deal."

"Waa? But I—"

"When are you ever going to get a chance like that again?"

"I… I don't know. But it doesn't _matter_. _You_ matter… It's not like you would just do what I say anyway! All I am to you is annoying most of the time..."

"Yeah… But you're also very surprising." He reached out and stroked his cheek then leaned in and kissed him. As Shuichi relaxed into the kiss from his initial shock, he dropped his coffee cup and it shattered on the floor. The kiss ended then, both of them looking down at the broken pieces.

"I'm sorry! You just surprised me!"

"Surprised me too … I guess it serves me right for letting you use my favorite cup."

"Gaa! No way! I'm so sorry!"

"It's only a cup. I'll make you clean it up in a minute." He settled back into kissing Shuichi, arms sliding around him warmly. Shuichi hadn't betrayed him. The one who had the most reason to, hadn't taken the opportunity.

"Yuki…" He sighed, fingers stroking his pale face, "I _love_ you…"

"You don't even know me… and you ditched a huge opportunity." Kiss, "If you want, I'll go home so you can claim your prize."

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to. Don't do it for me. Only yourself… I want to know you… I feel like I already should."

"Probably, given your feelings. I don't know what they could be based on." He ran a finger along Shuichi's lower lip.

"You make good coffee…" He shrugged and Eiri laughed at him.

"I like you… You're amusing." He kissed Shuichi again, hand trailing over his chest under his jacket and finding a hard nipple, "Apparently you like coffee a _lot_." He smirked.

A deep blush flowed across his face, "I thought you said you weren't into guys..."

"I'm not. We're on the same page there. I never kissed a guy or even thought about it. You?"

"No… Just you."

"And judging from yesterday… you've never had any kind of sex before."

"Sure I have! I've been with _plenty_ of girls!" He protested too harshly, confirming Eiri's suspicions.

"Stop lying. There's nothing I hate more than lying."

"Mmh… _Fine_…"

"Virgin."

"Shut up… Just because _you're_ a slut…"

"And a snob…"

"Yeah, that too." But he pulled Eiri close again anyway and kissed him, more confident in his embrace from a bunch of recent intensive training.

"Then why do you want me?"

"I guess you're right. It's the coffee." He whimpered and hugged Eiri tightly, nestling against him.

"Mmh… I better keep buying that kind then." He brushed his fingers over Shuichi's bright hair.

"Yeah, you better, otherwise I'm so _totally_ out of here." He sighed and kissed Eiri's chest.

"Shallow bitch…"

"Why are you letting me hold you and kiss you? You're playing all cool, but you must feel _something_ for me… otherwise you'd shove me out the door."

"I'm curious where this story line will lead us so I'm going to go with it."

"It's just a story to you, huh?"

"Yeah, but it's _my_ story so I care."

They both flinched then, hearing a loud banging at the apartment door.

"Whuzzat?" Shuichi whispered.

"Eiri I know you're in there so you better answer this door or I'm going to break it down!!" Was screeched from the same direction as the banging.

"Mika…" He grumbled, "Wonder who let her in downstairs…"

"She's _nuts_."

"Exactly." He let go of Shuichi, "Clean up your mess, kid. I'll go deal with the bitch at the front door…"

"I bet I can glue it back together." He offered.

"Good luck." He wandered off to the door which was shaking in its frame from his sister's assault, "Hey! Back it down!" He opened the door and glared at her, "What's your problem?"

She pushed past him, "You! _You're_ my problem, Eiri!"

"Woah… I guess having a kid turn down your bribe really did you some damage." He smirked and shut the door.

"What?? How did you know??"

"He's in the kitchen. He told me everything."

"That little whore! I didn't think he could run that fast… He already told you _everything_??"

"Yeah. Get off his back, Mika. It's not fair of you to try and put him in the middle of our family business, no matter how desperate you are to fulfill our old man's dreams for me."

"What the hell? Where did this kid come from out of the blue? You got sick of actresses and super models and started staking out the local high schools looking for _boys_??"

"Yeah, I wanted a change of pace." He sneered.

"Get rid of him so we can talk." Her hands were planted firmly on her hips, eyes glaring at Eiri in a way that many years ago might have intimidated him.

"No. I'm taking him to work in a few minutes. You get to leave."

"You need to quit dodging me, little brother."

"You need to get off my back, big sister."

Shuichi came out of the kitchen now, trying to hide behind Eiri.

"There's the little princess. What's wrong with you, _stupid_? Running off to tell him… You just screwed up big time. You'll never get your shitty little band off the ground now!"

"Hey… Back off." Eiri warned, "Just because you don't like that he did the right thing doesn't mean you get to try and trash his dreams. And you don't get to go dragging him out of school in the middle of the day for your dumb-ass schemes. Leave him alone or I'll go to Touma directly."

"Touma already knows…" She scowled.

"He doesn't know _everything_ though. I do. Let's try not to complicate our already complicated family any further, hmm? Now get out, I'm taking him to work."

"You need to go _home, _Eiri. You have an obligation."

"I might go. Now _you_ go. _Leave_." He shooed her out and gave Shuichi a safe escort to the restaurant where he worked.

"Thanks for saving me from your crazy sister." He was still in shock from the experience. It was a lot to absorb all at once.

"Welcome. It's the least I can do. You were pretty brave, even if you did run far enough away before you told her to go screw. Have fun at work."

"Yeah… Right… Thanks." He just sat there in the passenger seat.

"What's the matter?"

"It's weird sitting on the right side…"

"American car. They do things differently."

He nodded and sat there still.

"Well? What's eating you?"

"I'm just sorry I ended up causing you problems, even though I was trying _not_ to… And that I broke your cup."

"Don't worry about it. I'll give it a decent burial… Will you feel better if I kiss you?"

"Yeah. I would." And he sighed as Eiri leaned over and kissed him slowly, "Thanks."

"Get moving. You'll be late."

"Yeah..." He got out of the car finally.

"Hey…"

"Huh?"

"Give me your cell phone."

"What for?"

"Just give it." He held out his hand and Shuichi turned it over obediently, watching Eiri and then taking it back and admiring the beautiful numbers there, "If she bugs you again… call me."

"Okay." He smiled giddily.

"Close the door, would ya?"

"Oh. Sorry!" He shut the door and stood on the curb watching the car drive away, "Wow… I have his phone number… Yuki…"

It was hard for him to concentrate on his work that night. The other guys mocked him, saying that he probably had a new girlfriend because of his dreamy expression. Of course it was easy to deny because it wasn't true. A guy taller than 6 feet hardly qualified as a girl… He wandered over to Hiroshi's apartment on his way home.

"Hey! You're alive! What the hell? Who was that crazy chick? She was pretty hot too yanno…"

"Yeah." He came in and leaned on Hiro, "It's been such a long week…"

"There there, little man. Come have a soda and tell Uncle Hiro all about it." He patted Shuichi's head and then pushed him away.

"Thank you!" He accepted the can and slumped onto the floor.

"What's the story then?" He sat down to listen.

"That was Yuki's older sister, Mika…"

"Did she beat you down for messing with her little bro?? The whole school's freaking out!"

"No… She wanted me to get him to do something he doesn't wanna. So I lied and agreed and the moment she let me go I told her to go screw and ran all the way to his place to tell on her." He smiled wearily.

"Your life is getting weirder by the minute. What'd he say?"

"A bunch… I guess he appreciates that I didn't take her bribe."

"Bribe?"

"Did I mention that his older sister is Touma Seguchi's wife?"

"No… Serious?"

"Yeah. Seriously. So they all know each other… She said she'd get us an in to NRG Pro if I'd just twist his arm on her behalf."

"And you didn't take her up on it?? You moron!!"

"Hey! Their family business is none of _my_ business! Stop yelling!"

"You shoulda squeezed your relationship with him for everything it's worth!… Speaking of which… Did you at least get some squeezing as a reward for being a complete retard?" He winked.

Shuichi blushed hotly.

"Uahh!! You did! Will it still be a white wedding? You can tell me!" He grinned.

"Shut up you pervert! I'm not telling you _anything_!"

"The big blush tells it all… Do you need a cushion to sit on? Sore?" He leered.

"It's not like that!"

"You didn't get any white-hot pillow-biter love?"

"No! I mean… We kissed…"

"Oh my god!! You're making out with him! You little slut, Shuichi! Gaahh!"

"Kissing someone doesn't make me a slut!"

"At least you know his name now. That's an improvement! It's not like anonymous bathroom sex in the park anymore."

"I don't know why I came here… You're supposed to be my friend, Hiro!"

"I _am_ your friend, that's why I'm concerned about you getting laid. When are you going to give it up to him? He's gonna get frustrated and go back to chicks." He laughed.

"I hate you." He scowled and slurped his soda.

"I'm just having fun with you, nerd. Relax…" He started to pluck away at his guitar, "You've really thrown yourself into the most difficult situation you possibly could. Do you realize that? I mean… Eiri Yuki alone, just you two getting cozy is a media circus waiting to happen. Personally, I'm shocked he hasn't taken out a restraining order on you."

"Me too, actually."

"And he's related to Seguchi-san. You really can't afford to piss that guy off. Who knows how he'd feel about you messing with his brother-in-law? And now you've pissed off his sister too."

"Yeah, well… Sometimes it's not so easy to do the right thing because there are consequences. I did the right thing… I got my reward. He defended me from his sister and actually drove me to work even if I _did_ break his favorite coffee mug…"

"No kidding? Good job, butterfingers." He laughed.

"And I got his phone number…" He opened his cell and admired the number that he had combined with a picture of Eiri's car driving away, "And he _kissed_ me…" Deep sigh.

"It's creepy to see you getting all mushy-faced over a dude."

"Then don't look. You're supposed to _support_ me!"

"I do, but it's not always easy."

Eiri parked his car at home after dropping Shuichi off at his part-time job. He looked at the three filled parking spaces that his vehicles occupied… Maybe Shuichi was right. What did he need three cars for anyway? He couldn't drive them all at once… Upstairs he found his broken cup piled neatly on the island in the center of the kitchen with a note.

"I'm so sorry about this. I owe you one cup of your choice! Love, Shuichi."

He smirked, "He is certainly committed to his decision…" He threw out the pieces and poured himself another cup of coffee, going to sit down at his online computer to look around for a new car.

* * *

**Please review! Next chapter coming soon.**

If you like this, be sure to read **Remix, Ending and a New Beginning**


	4. Decisions & Boundaries

**Chapter Notes** - It's been a long while since I posted to this section of the story line. I've been mostly working on _**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_which is the other end of the story! Back here, things are starting to move along rather quickly. Shuichi has some big choices to make! They're both pushing each other's boundaries...

* * *

When Shuichi showed up at Yuki' place next he noticed only one of the three cars were in the lot. He wondered if Yuki was home… but then how could he drive two cars at once? He pressed the buzzer and waited… Eiri answered over the intercom.

"Hi… Umm… It's me. Can I come up?"

"Sure."

The door buzzer went off and he grabbed it fast, racing into the elevator and practically tackled Yuki when he opened the apartment door.

"Umm… Hello…" Eiri was shocked by the sudden grab, Shuichi firmly attached to him.

"Hi…" He sighed.

"What's with you?"

"Just happy to see you."

"Hey, quit chewing on my shirt, you."

"Sorry." He looked up at Yuki, "Where'd your cars go? Did someone steal them? Only the Mercedes is down there."

"I traded them in. I'm waiting for my new car to be delivered and then the Merc is going away too."

"Serious?"

"Serious…"

"Why?"

"Well… I thought about what you said during your 'rich snob' tirade and I don't really need three cars… Plus there's one that I've always wanted so… I did a little shopping."

"What'd you get?"

"Let go of me and I'll show you."

"Do I _have_ to?"

"I can't move with you clinging to me, spaz."

"Awww…" He let go and trailed along after Yuki to the living area where he had a few catalogs on the coffee table. He picked up one and handed it to Shuichi, "BMW… I guess you can't just go Toyota, huh?"

"I'm not that frugal." He sat down and lit a smoke.

He sat down next to Yuki happily, leafing through the pamphlet, "Wow… This thing has _everything_ on it."

"It should. I'm paying enough for it."

"500 hp! How _much_ are you paying for it?"

"83k, US funds. A couple more thousand for shipping."

"Wow. So it's really coming from the USA?"

"Yep. Charleston South Carolina."

"Wherezzat?"

"East coast."

"Cool… I don't know what 83k translates into yen… But I'm betting it's more than a thousand."

"And then some."

"How long until it gets here?"

"About a month."

"When do I get to drive it?" He tried a grin to get a chance.

"About _never_."

"Don't be a jerk. Let me drive your incredibly expensive car!"

"Hell no. What crack are you smoking?" He smirked.

"Hopeful crack." He shrugged, "Must be cool to be in possession of an abundance of cash."

"What would you blow it on?"

"A new synthesizer and computer."

"You're really that determined about your musical future, huh?"

"Yeah. I love to sing and I love to write music, even if you think it blows."

"I guess it doesn't matter what I think if your schlock sells to the masses. There's plenty of crap J-pop out there and _someone's_ buying it."

"Your sister's married to the king of the synth. You think _his_ music sucks?"

"I'm not a fan, no. I think he's got a lot of talent. Too bad it wasn't in something I like."

"One day I'll be up there… Then I'll be the one with the smokin' car."

"And then you'll get to say 'I told you so' to me, huh?"

"Something like that. I might just buy you dinner, if you're nice." He made a face at Yuki.

"Don't stick your tongue out unless you intend to use it…"

"Ha." He yelped as Yuki tugged him close and kissed him firmly, causing him to drop the pamphlet.

"You just can't hold on to _anything_, can you?" Eiri smirked.

"You just keep _surprising _me!"

"Perhaps I'm getting too carried away. I won't kiss you again then…"

"I didn't say to stop!" He took hold of Yuki's shirt when he started to move away.

"Then what should I do? Write you a letter of intent before each kiss?"

"Well no…"

"Eventually you might develop immunity… Should I kiss you again now or have you had enough?"

"I don't think there's such a thing as enough." He relaxed as Eiri laid him back on the sofa, getting another intensive lesson in creative kissing from the master, "You better stop…" He gasped at last.

"Don't tell me… You're almost there again…"

"Yeah." He gulped.

"We can take a break." He smirked, "Or keep on going…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Let's find out just how much you really want me… Virgin."

"What? You're kidding… Right?"

"No… Why would I be?"

"Uh… I… Umm…"

"Fascinating… You can no longer form a sentence… What are you telling me here? That all you want to do is kiss and grope? Or haven't you thought that far ahead?"

"I guess… I haven't really thought much about it…"

"Is that all you want? Think about it now."

Shuichi tried to swallow his heart which had lodged in his throat. Eiri Yuki was offering to be his lover. His mind reeled. He was in love, he loved the kissing and closeness and touching… He didn't know how Yuki felt about him though… He was allowed to come over whenever he wanted… Yuki kissed him freely now… Wasn't so caustic in his commentary as he used to be… He just hadn't really considered where they would go from where they were.

"I can smell the burning from your thinking…" Eiri said at last, "You really didn't think about it at all, did you?"

"No… I didn't…" He gulped.

Eiri smiled, "You're unusual… I'll give you that… I've never met anyone quite like you."

"That's what most people say…"

"If this is all you want, be clear about it… But you say you love me…"

"Okay…"

"What does that mean?"

"I mean okay… But I don't exactly know what to do…"

"No problem. I'll take care of it then. Just relax."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously… Try and show some restraint, would ya?"

"I don't know how!" He whined as Eiri dug back in, kissing him and undressing him.

"What's the matter, are you nervous or something?" He breathed against Shuichi's lips.

"Of _course_ I am… Ahhhh…" His head fell back, feeling Eiri's hand in his underwear.

"Parts of you are not so nervous…" He chewed on Shuichi's throat.

Pretty soon he was naked and Eiri had his shirt off, pulling the blanket over them from the back of the sofa.

"I'm proud… You haven't lost it yet." He smiled and then Shuichi felt something strange.

"Ahh! Hey! Ow! Take it easy!"

"Calm down. I'm just trying to get you ready… If you keep tensing up it's going to hurt."

"Mmh…" He squeezed his eyes shut as Eiri's fingers pressed deeper, "I can't believe I'm doing this!"

"You want to stop?"

"Nn… No… Just go slower okay?"

"If I go any slower we're going to be old and dead before this is over…"

"Don't be mean." He winced again, "Do people really do this??"

"All the time."

"How do _you_ know?"

"Unfortunately I know more than I want to because of a certain family member's dirty mind and his willingness to share it. Consider yourself lucky I know what I'm doing. Quit complaining."

"Easy for you to say… You better be my boyfriend for real, Eiri!"

"Yeah yeah. I am. Calm down." He redirected Shuichi's attention, kissing him softly and slowly and as he relaxed, deeply, finding his tongue and beckoning him to kiss back which he began to do with abandon… And he pressed deeper, "That's right… Just relax…"

"Mmhhh… I love you…"

He managed only to get to the point of penetration before Shuichi freaked out.

"It _hurts_… Please stop. _Please_ stop."

"Relax and it _won't_ hurt."

"I can't. I'm scared. Please stop."

"All right, all right." He backed off, disappointed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so _sorry_." Shuichi rolled away from him, sobbing.

"Hey… Quit it." He lay down behind him, hugging him, feeling uncharacteristically compassionate, "It's perfectly normal to be scared. You don't have to apologize."

"_Please_ don't break up with me… I love you so much." He wept, hugging Eiri's arm around him, "I'll try to get used to it. I _promise_."

"Don't worry… I'm not going anywhere." He sighed, kissing Shuichi's shoulder, "Shhh…"

"I'm so stupid… I ruined _everything_."

"No you didn't. I guess I expected it wouldn't go flawlessly anyhow… Maybe you can stay the night?"

"You're kidding…"

"No… If you want to stay, I'm good with it… I'm your boyfriend after all, right? I should take care of you. Seems like you need some taking care of right now…"

Shuichi turned over, eyes flooded with tears, "_Really_?"

"Really."

He then snuggled in, sniffling, "I love you… I love you…"

"I think mostly you love the coffee, right?"

"No… I love the coffee maker." He smiled slightly as Eiri stroked the tears from his face.

Eventually Shuichi cried himself to sleep there. Eiri got up and pulled on his shirt, taking his pants to the bedroom where he changed into a long sleeved tshirt and lounge pants before going to the kitchen and making some decaff coffee. Another new blend to try. He reheated some pasta from the night before and when it was all done, brought it out to the living area, arranging everything on the coffee table. He then sat in the near darkness that had come while they were busy messing around and watched Shuichi sleeping.

"_Shuichi Shindou… Where are you taking us?… No one else gets to spend the night, not even for asking, not even for amazing sex… With you… I don't get anything but frustration and I end up inviting you to stay the night. How did you get into my head that way? You don't even know me but you love me… And when you do know me… you'll be out the door like a bat out of hell without my asking you to leave… So why am I willing to keep going down that road with you? Maybe I hope that I'm wrong_…"

He lit a smoke and took a drag, listening to the sounds of the city outside. He had been used to being there alone, but it was an interesting feeling to have company. He reached out and under the blanket, smoothing his hand over Shuichi's ankle.

"Mmh…" He shifted and stretched, eyes opening a little, "Hmm?"

"You awake yet?"

"I… Yeah… A little." He hugged the blanket around himself, "It feels good… To be here with you."

"I know… Hungry?"

"Uh huh…"

"Sit up. Food awaits… And coffee."

He smiled slowly, "Good… Then I don't have to leave."

"Bastard… You really do just love the coffee." He put down his smoke and stretched out over Shuichi who turned onto his back, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered.

"You don't have to be sorry…" He kissed him slowly, "I understand… It's good coffee after all."

His smile grew wider, fingers touching Eiri's face, "I didn't mean about that."

"I know… But that's what we're talking about now… Get up and eat, lazy."

"Okay…"

So they sat closely together and ate dinner, watching TV. Eiri was surprised by the comfort of it… Having Shuichi's leg against his where they lounged.

"This is good stuff. Takeout rocks." He stuffed more pasta into his face.

"It's not takeout…"

"No? You made this??"

"Yeah. I can cook."

"Okay… So… You're still single, you dress well, your apartment is disgustingly clean, you write romance novels, and you can cook… Things aren't looking good for you on the straight/gay scale."

"Yeah yeah… Except for the fact that right about now I'm usually kicking a hot chick out of my apartment… Instead of sitting here with a high school kid in his boxers and mismatching socks."

"That… adds to the gay scale. Yep."

"Smart-ass… At least my hair isn't magenta."

"That's one point for me… Sitting here with you is two… But I can't cook, you already commented on my fashion sense, and you should see my room. It's a _mess_. I bet you'd throw up."

"Probably."

"So that's 6 points for you and two for me. You're _way_ gayer."

"Fuck you."

"Welll…. We can both keep trying to get _that_ extra point." He leaned on Eiri with a sigh, "I'm still sorry."

"Shut up, punk. That slate's already clean."

"Just checking." He snuck a piece of tomato off Eiri's plate.

"Hey! Keep on your own side."

"It's super tasty."

"Italian… You like Italian."

"I keep finding more reasons to stick around."

"Goodie." He said sarcastically.

"The decaff is good too. You're going to make an _amazing_ wife."

"I'm about a half a second from throwing you out in the hall in your boxers…"

"Oooh… I better shut up."

"That's the truth."

But in the end he didn't kick Shuichi out, they bedded down together. Again, there was the feeling of comfort. He watched Shuichi sleeping beside him. He had really made himself at home. Even for being way smaller, he was taking up most of the big bed, sprawled out, smile on his face, breathing deeply.

"_You smile…in your sleep… What a freak you are, kid_." He finally fell asleep.

He woke up with Shuichi wrapped around him, still sleeping soundly and smiling away. Eiri extracted himself from the bed, sitting up and shaking his head, combing his hair with his fingers and looked down on the happy sleeping face.

"_What the fuck am I doing_?"

Half of him wanted to kick Shuichi out and tell him not to come back, half of him wanted something else. His stomach wanted breakfast, his lungs were telling him it was time for a smoke, his head wanted coffee… Everything wanted something or another.

"Mmm… Yuki…" Shuichi sighed in his sleep, turning on his side and nestling down into the covers.

"Argh…"

He got up and trudged off to the kitchen to make breakfast. Coffee in hand at last, he leaned on the railing of his balcony and had the first smoke of the day. Spring was hurrying up into Summer that day. Another deadline was on its way… Smoke done, he wandered back inside and into the bedroom. Shuichi was still luxuriating there, smiling and floating along in whatever blissful dreams an idiot had. Eiri reached down and pulled the covers off him.

"Hmm?" He started to stir.

"Hey… Vagrant. Time to get up."

"Wh… Where…" He sat up with a start, staring at Eiri.

"Welcome back to the world."

"Wow… I thought I dreamed being here." He shook his head.

"The nightmare's real. Trust me. I keep pinching myself but you're still here… Breakfast is on." He turned and walked out of the bedroom, Shuichi hurrying after him.

"Is there coffee??"

"Yeah… There is."

"Yay." He got a plate of food placed on the kitchen island counter along with his prized cup of coffee, "Wow…" He dove in, "This is good!"

"Just for the record, being a good cook doesn't indicate you're gay… Here's a tip for you, not that you'll ever use it… The surest way to get into a woman's good graces, shall we say, is to cook for her. Pure panty remover."

"Right… Sure… The point stays." He grabbed the plate and snarled when Eiri tried to punish him by taking it away.

"Freak…"

"Mine. No take. Grrr."

"Are you off your meds or _what_?"

"I don't take meds!"

"You should start then." He smirked.

Eventually Eiri was back on the balcony and Shuichi joined him, fully clothed again. He sighed, squinting in the breeze, quiet for a change.

"What's with you being so quiet?"

He shrugged, "Just enjoying the moment… I really like being here with you. It feels good."

"Mmh…"

"You know… I think you think that I don't know how weird this is… But I do… And I get that my feelings aren't your feelings… It's pretty obvious to me… I mean, you write romance novels but I don't think you're the type to actually be in love yourself. Or maybe just to _let_ yourself be in love… I dunno… I think you believe that my feelings for you are genuine. I'm just surprised that you're letting me stick around… That you said you're my boyfriend… I want you to know that I won't ever lie to you again, but it was your fault that I did anyhow."

"_My_ fault?"

"Yeah… I mean… You're just too cool for your own good so… I only lied about the virgin thing because I'm freakin' _embarrassed_ as all hell with you putting me on the spot like that too…"

"It doesn't matter if you try and lie to me, I can see right through you."

"It does matter. You said it yourself. You hate lies… I'm _not_ a liar. It's just not my way." He looked toward Eiri, "So there it is. I'll never lie to you again. Not even the little white ones."

Eiri nodded, "Okay. Works for me."

"I have to go to meet Hiro soon. We're going to practice for a while… Eiri… I know you think my songs suck, my writing is amateur… but when I looked out in the audience and I saw you standing there… that was all I needed in the world to just do my best… These dreams I have, they just seem so huge… and they scare the _shit_ out of me… but I feel like I can face them, face my life, just as long as you're there… Just as long as you can be standing there and supporting me. Then it makes everything seem so manageable. So small compared to everything I feel for you."

Eiri was struck dumb by this confession. He couldn't look away from Shuichi, who just looked at him steadily.

"Jezis… How can you just say shit like that?" He shook his head, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"What do you mean?"

"Usually people have thoughts like that _inside_ their heads, they don't put them out for everyone to hear."

He shrugged, "I figure it's the truth so I might as well say it. Eventually you'll see that I'm not hiding anything and you'll have no choice but to trust me… Accept me… I'm not sure if you'll ever love me back… but I hope so. I really do. Right now I'm just happy that you're not kicking me out… I _love_ you…" He reached out and tugged on Eiri's shirt, "Please… Can I hold you? Just for a little while?"

Eiri brought him into his arms, running on auto-pilot, held him tightly… feeling parts of his mind cracking… parts of his heart warming. This wasn't just some garbage bunch of lines being thrown out there at him from one of his own books. There was a real emotion happening. Half of him was resisting, the other half reaching out. It felt awful, and incredible… The heart that beat against his was real. The tears on Shuichi's cheeks were not a put-on.

"Can I… maybe do something for you?" He spoke softly at last, sniffling, "I could… you know… make you dinner or something tonight…"

"You said you can't cook…"

"I can get takeout just as good as anyone can… and _pretend_ it's my cooking."

"Nah… I'm not going to be here tonight anyway."

"Oh… Hot date, huh?" He squeezed more tightly, feeling possessive.

"Something like that."

"I guess I can't expect you just to quit seeing other people… Women…"

"It's not a date…" He held Shuichi away, looking down at him and drying his eyes once more, "I'm going to get you that prize from my bitch sister… I'm going home to Kyoto..."

"No… Don't do it, Eiri…" He shook his head, "You don't have to do _anything_ for me. Only do it if you really _want_ to."

"I do want to. I want to make her give you that chance. It's your chance… Don't fuck it up."

"But I already said no to her… I think the deal's off then, right??"

"Hey, don't panic… Calm down."

"I can't! Even though I tried my hardest just to keep out of it, now you're doing exactly what she wanted me to _get_ you to do!"

"I'm not doing it for her, for my parents, for anyone but my own satisfaction. It'll get everyone off my back about doing it, Mika won't be riding her broom around and kidnapping you, and she'll have to make good on her promise to you. While I'm gone you better get a demo ready because I'm going to shove it in her face the moment I get back to Tokyo."

"But…"

"Shut up. You have four days to put it together. Don't waste that time being all worked up over this. You said you could face your dreams with me supporting you, right?"

"Well, yeah… I didn't mean quite like _this_. I meant like holding my hand or hugging me when I'm freaking out. Not calling me a loser all the time because my lyrics suck. You know… Like 'do your best, Shuichi. Make me proud'. That sorta thing. Not selling your soul so I can get a demo in…"

"Prove it to me. I want to see you face those dreams and see what comes of it. Take what is being offered. It's being offered freely. Don't let me down, kid."

Shuichi blinked, gulping… and then nodded, "Okay… I'll get it together."

"Good. Now get going… I have some packing to do." He bent, kissing Shuichi deeply before putting him out the door.

* * *

**Please review! Next chapter coming soon.**

If you like this, be sure to read **Remix, Ending and a New Beginning**


	5. Achoo!

**Chapter Notes** - It's been a long while yet again since I posted to this section of the story line. I've been mostly working on _**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_which is the other end of the story! Thought I would come back around here and update their 'back story' a little. I enjoy writing the dialogue between Maiko and the happy couple. She's very energetic! Hope you'll enjoy reading it.

**Please read and review :)**

* * *

Four days later Shuichi was hurriedly moving down the street toward Yuki's apartment. It had been one hell of a set of days and more than anything he just wanted to see Yuki again. Just a few minutes with him and he would feel a million times better. When he got there he found a strange woman already pressing his unmarked buzzer and looking pissed off… Probably some other chick he was doing, Shuichi figured… He was surprised there wasn't a line down the block, what with his having been gone for a few days.

"Goddamn it!" She smacked the panel.

"Umm… Hi. Are you okay?"

"Oh!" She jumped, "I'm sorry… I didn't know there was anyone around." Smile.

"You're looking for Yuki?"

"Well… Yes… You know him?"

"Yeah…" He looked off toward the parking, noticing his lone car was missing, "He's not here still, car's gone. I thought he might be back by now." He sighed, feeling his stress rise to match the fever he had been nursing. He wasn't going to get his dose of Yuki medicine after all.

"He took off again??" She fumed.

"Yeah, he went home to Kyoto for a few days."

Her anger abated, "Did someone die?"

"Uh, no… He just went to see his family."

"How unusual. I wouldn't have thought he'd go back there unless there was a funeral to attend… Dammit! He should tell me when he's taking off! He's always skipping out just before important deadlines!"

"Deadlines?"

"Oh, excuse me… I'm Sachi Morimoto. I'm his chief editor." She bowed, "It seems like whenever he has a deadline he becomes invisible. He has a piece due for the National Writers Association publication this month and I haven't seen word one of it yet. I'm getting a bit nervous. Please excuse my behavior."

"Oh, no problem… You could always try calling his cell phone."

"He doesn't give out that number unfortunately… Which isn't to say I haven't asked! I suppose I could ask the President of the publishing house… But then… I'm a little too junior level for such things."

She sighed in frustration, making Shuichi feel suddenly enormously special. He was glad he hadn't offered it up accidentally before knowing it was classified information.

"I bet he'll call you the moment he gets home."

"Doubtful…" She huffed, then took a good look at him, "Hey… You don't look so good. Are you okay?"

"I've got a bit of a spring cold." He smiled, wiping sweat from his forehead, "You wouldn't want to walk back to the train with me, would you?"

"Sure… I think my work is done here!"

So they walked back the way he had come.

"So, who are you?" She smiled.

"I'm nobody really. Shuichi Shindou. Nice to meet you."

"Just a random friend of our master writer… I've never met any of his male friends before. He usually just has his arm decorated with assorted bimbos." She laughed, "He's quite the little Casanova, our Yuki-sensei. I hope you're not taking womanizing lessons from him. You seem like a nice kid."

"Thanks… You don't have to worry… about… me…"

And with that he fainted on the sidewalk, leaving a complete stranger to take care of him. He remembered being loaded into an ambulance and he woke up at the hospital with his mother and sister there. The nurses had called them on his cell phone when he had been admitted unconscious. It was all in and out for a while but after a day he was sent home, re-hydrated but still feverish.

"Dammit Yuki, you coulda been home… Then you could have scooped me up and taken care of me." Sigh. He fell asleep again.

"Hey…"

"Mmh?"

"Are you gonna wake up or just hover on the edge and mumble? Huh?"

"Mmmm…" He pried his eyes opened, looking up to the face of the person sitting on the bed next to him, tried to focus, wondering if he was just dreaming. Yuki was sitting there… Yuki with very neatly trimmed hair and wearing glasses, unlike any picture Maiko had of him, unlike Shuichi was used to seeing him.

"Here you come." He smirked. At least that was all Eiri Yuki. Signature smirk, "Just what the hell is this?" He held up a test paper with red all over it, "You know… you were right… Your room is a disaster and I did almost throw up from seeing it… but this takes the damn cake. Did you let a retarded chimp take this test for you?"

"Huh? Yuki?"

"I mean, seriously… You were born in Japan right?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"And your first language is Japanese, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then how are you failing a test in your own damn language? I've never seen worse kanji in my life… No… I take that back. Just once… This is seriously tragic. No wonder you can't write lyrics."

"You're even mean to me in my dreams, Yuki." He yawned and closed his eyes again.

"You're not dreaming, spaz. I'm mean to you in your waking life, right now."

"You're not my Yuki… My Yuki's hair isn't cut like that. My Yuki doesn't wear glasses. You can't fool me, mean dream Yuki."

"Already fooled, I'd say. I had to cut my hair before I went home. You know. Being the honorable eldest son and all, it wasn't appropriate to go home looking shaggy and bohemian. This hair is _your_ damn fault."

His eyes snapped open, heart pounding as he sat up in a daze, "Yuki??"

"Yeah?"

"How did you get into my room??" He coughed and Yuki leaned away.

"I called Sachi when I got home. She told me she met some high school kid at my apartment building when she was looking for me… That you passed out, walking with her back to the subway and went to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital you'd already been checked out… So I got your address from a nurse pretty easily… Your mom let me in. I told her I was a friend of yours through that guy Hiro that you keep blabbing about and wanted to see how you were doing."

"My _mom_?? Oh my _God_! She must have freaked out!"

"Nope… I think it's the haircut and glasses. I don't look like me. She didn't even ask my name and I didn't offer it. Your mom must not care much about you to leave you in the care of complete strangers." Shuichi sneezed suddenly and Eiri pushed him back down onto the bed, "Stay there, you festering pool of disease. If you croak while she's gone I am not taking the blame."

"Gone?"

"She went out with one of the neighbor ladies to see some Taiko concert thing."

"Oh…" His head swam, eyes drowsing involuntarily.

"You really _are_ sick. What the hell happened to you? You were fine when I left."

Shuichi sighed as Yuki's fingers stroked his hair. It was nearly the best thing he had ever felt in his life at that very moment in time.

"This has been… the _worst_ four days ever… Don't ever go away again… You let my bad luck back in when you left..."

"My my… Sounds like you have a story to tell."

"Yeah…"

It was a complete thrill to him when Yuki started to play nurse, getting cold water to refill the bowl by his bed and laying a cool towel across his forehead where he lay helplessly gazing up at him.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Your hair… It's just so different."

"If you think I'm happy about that, you're wrong."

"I didn't think you would be… Was everything okay? At home?"

"It was normal… My family trying to convince me to come home and take over my duties as eldest son and stuff."

"Duties?"

"Yeah… You can't mean to say you don't know _anything_ about my life. I saw your sister's room across the hall. She's a stalker fan type. My picture's on her wall, my books are on her shelf, fan mags are on her desk… You've practically been living with my ghost for what looks like years and you never noticed?"

"Are you kidding? She'd _kill_ me if I went in her room."

"Fascinating… Let's see if we can enlighten you here." He took up one of the magazines that had been laying on her desk, open to an article about him.

"Oh, shit… You better put that back exactly where you found it or you can kiss your nuts goodbye."

"Yeah yeah. I doubt she'd kick me out of her bedroom." He smirked.

"Okay… I didn't think about it that way I guess."

"That's what's so fascinating about you… Here we go… Eiri Yuki's vital stats! How exciting... Relationship status, single, never married. Star sign Pisces, birth date Feb 23, age 27, born Kyoto Japan, currently lives in Tokyo. Occupation, award-winning, best-selling author. Height 6'1", weight 165. Hair natural dark blond, eyes gold-brown. Favorite food, chocolate anything. First novel, best-selling Shiro/Kuro. Favorite music, electronica-lounge and world beat. Quote, I don't believe in love, I just write about it… Hell, your sister knows more about me than you do just from reading fan-rags..." He chuckled, tossing the magazine onto the bed with his patient.

"You're really _tall_…"

Yuki smiled down on him, amused by his weakened state, "You're a mess, Shuichi…"

He smiled back slowly, "You used my _name_… Instead of 'retard' or 'spaz'."

"I suppose I did."

"You must really _really_ like me."

"I guess so… You want something to drink or eat?"

"Kinda." He nodded.

"Come on… I'll see if there's anything in the kitchen worth feeding you."

He bundled Shuichi into his robe and slippers, escorting him to the kitchen where he started to dig in the cupboards for food. Eventually Shuichi was sniffling and drinking hot tea, Yuki cooking for him yet again, but in a much different setting.

"Did I mention that I missed you?" He coughed.

"Nope."

"I missed you… _and_ your cooking." He still had the energy to salivate. Yuki fed him a bit of what he was working on to test, "Yumm…"

"Acceptable?"

"If I had panties on, I'd _definitely_ remove them." He smiled wearily and Yuki laughed at him.

"You completely kill me some times… Did you get your demo ready?"

"Did I mention, it's been a really shitty week?"

"Yeah… Does that mean you didn't?"

"I did… but there was a power spike and it got completely fragged. I was stressed enough as it was with failing school and mom being pissed at me and you being gone and then _that_ happened… I stayed up for a whole night trying to put it back together again but then I got sick and I went to see you but you weren't there… and I passed out on Morimoto-san when I had only just _met_ her… It's half re-done… I'm sorry I let you down."

"You didn't let me down. You worked hard. No harm, no foul. Just let me know when it's finished. Don't wait too long. Mika's going out of town in a week."

"It'll be done before then. Swear. I would work on it now…"

"I don't think so." He set a plate down in front of Shuichi and refilled his tea cup, "You're all kinds of fucked up so don't even think about working."

"Thanks… You're the best boyfriend _ever_."

"Heh… Sure… Eat up."

He kept nearly falling asleep with his mouth full. Yuki kept nudging him to keep him awake long enough to eat.

"I love you…" He murmured, eyes drowsing, head bowing forward.

"Wake up, you…" Another nudge.

"Mmh."

SLAM. They both cringed at the sound of the front door.

"I'm home!!" Maiko yelled, "What's that _awesome_ smell, mom? You're so cool to cook for us! Hey, did you see that super hot Mercedes out front??"

"Oh, shit… It's my sister…" He groaned.

"Special…"

"You can go out the back door if you want."

"I'll stay unless you want me to run for it."

"I'm good with you staying." He shrugged, "But you can't blame me for this…"

"Helloooo?? Mom?? Shuichi??" She came into the kitchen then and stopped short, "Oh… Uh…"

"No _yelling_. My head is killing me." Shuichi winced.

She looked intently at Yuki, apparently confused by his hair cut and glasses, "Which doofie friend of my brother are _you_?"

"Probably number 3 or 4…" He smirked.

"You'd kinda look familiar if not for the hair-do." She pranced over to the fridge to grab a soda, "Did you leave any for me? Or did you two pigs just scarf down all the good eats?"

"There's more on the stove. Help yourself." He was completely amused at this point.

"Sweet. Where's mom?"

"Taiko concert… Went with the neighbor lady... There's a note…" He broke up coughing again.

"Ewww! You're just _gross_, Shuichi! When are you going to heal up??"

"Soon, I hope."

She took a seat with them, "Yumm… So… Are you, like, new at school or something? I don't remember seeing you there."

"No… I don't go to your high school." Yuki sipped his tea.

"Dang, where'd you get the watch? Family rich or something?" She admired the Rolex on his wrist.

"No, not too much so… but I am. Your brother thinks I'm a snob… You like my car huh?"

"That's _yours_?? Holy cow! So what's your name any how, cutie? Are you single? I could dump my boyfriend for a guy like you!"

"Eiri Yuki."

She almost choked on her mouthful of his cooking. Shuichi laughed until he coughed again.

"Quit screwing with me, you guys..." Maiko frowned.

"He's not. He's actually Eiri Yuki-san."

"I'm sad that you don't recognize me, what with all the things related to me in your bedroom."

"You went in my _room_?? I don't care _who_ you look like! My room is off limits!"

"Amazing. Your sister is almost as nuts as you are. Must run in the family."

"At least she's a decent student… Unlike me."

"An F on a Japanese test… It is truly pathetic. No doubt about it."

"I was working hard on that demo! I was distracted! You didn't have to go run off to Kyoto and leave me here to suffer alone!"

"Settle down, spaz." He laughed.

"Wait a minute… Kyoto…" Maiko peered at him.

Yuki rolled his eyes and took out his wallet, showing her his driver's license.

"Happy?"

"Oh my GOD… You're really him!!"

"Yeah, imagine that." He put away his wallet again.

"What happened to your gorgeous hair?"

"Chh… I had it cut to go home to visit my family. It wasn't a personal choice. Just something I'll have to live with until it grows out again." He combed his fingers through the neatly chopped strands, "What makes it worse, is that I forgot I have a TV interview tomorrow. Now I'm going to have to explain my school-boy hack job hair to all of Japan. This _better_ be one hell of a demo, kid, or I'm gonna kick your ass."

"It'll be just _fine_." Shuichi took a drink to wet his throat, "Don't blame me for this. It's not like I made you go. It's not like I dragged you to a barber and tied you to a chair and said, 'just stick a bowl on his head and cut around it, we're in a hurry'. That was all _you_, dumb-ass."

"Don't talk to Yuki-sama like that!! Are you _insane_??" His sister squealed and Shuichi flinched.

"Ow…"

"Don't you know who he is???"

"He does actually, and he doesn't care. That's part of the fascination." Yuki sat back in his chair, smiling, "Only my _family_ gets to talk to me like that."

"Why are you hanging out with my brother anyhow? How long have you known Yuki-sama and you haven't told me?? I _hate_ you, Shuichi!"

"Gaa… Turn down the volume!" He covered his ears.

"Probably two months… Wouldn't you say?"

"Something like that…" Shuichi frowned.

"Why do you even hang out with him?? He's practically illiterate and you're a God with words! What _happened_? Did you get in trouble with the law and because you're so hot they thought they shouldn't send you to jail so they made you be 'big brother tutor' to a retard like my bro?"

"Wow. You have an imagination… I hang out with him because it's good to sit down with someone who can talk about something other than me. I have enough of that in my life… It's the first time in ages I've had a semi-normal conversation about nothing or played another person at Play Station instead of just playing the game… So I figure, what the hell?… Hey… Were you serious about failing out of school?" His attention returned to Shuichi.

"He's _screwed_! He's gonna get kicked out if he doesn't straighten up. Between him getting dragged out in the middle of a test by that crazy chick and failing his make-up Japanese exam, he's steadily maintaining his position at the bottom of the senior class!"

"Principal said he was gonna kick me out and I was gonna have to repeat…" He grumbled.

"I see my sister injected herself into an already volatile situation. Sorry about that."

"_She_ should be, not _you_." Shuichi scowled at the memory.

"That was your _sister_??" Maiko shrieked again.

"Yeah… Holy hell, girl… Seriously tone it down. Now _I'm_ getting _his_ headache from your yelling."

"Sorry, Yuki-sama!"

"Okay… I guess I better start to tutor your ass then." He huffed.

"Huh? You're going to tutor me? No way…"

"You better let him, monkey brains."

"Shut up, Maiko!"

Yuki laughed, amused by his suburban experience.

"If you fail, that's another year of you in a uniform. I'm getting sick of explaining why there's a high school kid coming and going freely from my apartment. You better graduate. Aren't you going to college?"

"No… I'm going to get the _band_ going good. That's the goal. I'm doing great in my music class!"

"That's the _only_ class…" She laughed at him, "He got nabbed again for sleeping in class the other day… and then the day before that he got nabbed for the freak out… and then for the failing grade… and then I heard a rumor that the principal just called him in for the heck of it one day and told him to get a haircut."

"He said I look like an ugly girl with my pony tail. Fuck _him_…"

"You really _have_ had a shitty week." Yuki raised an eyebrow.

"Told you."

"As soon as you get healthy, we'll try and see if we can't get you to be semi-literate."

"Oh! What show are you being interviewed on, Yuki-sama? That way I can tape it!" Maiko grinned at him.

"The Arts Spot on Morning Tokyo. I was stupid and wrote a few short plays a couple years ago that keep getting performed. They're going to do a set of them in the Tokyo Spring Performing Arts Festival. It should be a regular sideshow."

"It's so super cool to have you sitting right here… I never managed to get through any of the huge lines in time to have you sign one of my books. I can't wait to tell everyone!!"

"Hey hey… You can't tell _anyone_ I was here. Not even your mom figured out who I was because of the messed up hair."

"No fair! I want to tell the world! I'm gonna have that chair bronzed! People will line up for miles to pay to drink out of that cup! Are you _kidding_??"

"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I don't think it would be very helpful to your brother to go shouting around that he's hanging out with me. He has enough problems right now. Don't you think?"

"Shuichi is a living, breathing, problem. Always has been. No big whoop."

"Screw _you_, Maiko."

"S'true." She shrugged.

"How about this… I'll sign a book for you, even write a personal note, if you keep your mouth shut… and I mean to _everyone_. Don't even tell _Shuichi_ I was here." He gave her a sultry smile and a wink and she practically melted on the spot.

"Okay…"

"Go get one. Hurry."

"Okay! Gaaaa!!" She scooted away from the table and up the stairs at warp speed.

"Creepy." Shuichi shivered.

"Such is my life."

"I feel sorry for you… You really gonna tutor me?"

"I better. I can't stand an entire year of you in a uniform. These two months have been plenty."

Shuichi smiled, "That means you're going to let me stick around."

"Maybe I will."

"You're just a softie after all, Yukiii… Will you sign my underwear for me? Gaaa!" He mocked his sister and Yuki laughed at him.

"Hell no. Are you done with that?" He gestured to the plate.

"Yeah… Thanks. It was _awesome_."

"Of course it was. You should have your stomach bronzed." He got up and cleared their plates, both of them hearing Maiko upstairs freaking out, trying to decide which book to have him sign, "Your sister is nuts just like you… Want a hand back up to bed?"

"That would be awesome too." He got a hand up and into Yuki's arms, happy recipient of a scandalous in-family-home kiss, "Mmmhhh… Yuki… I'm the luckiest in the world."

"To be kissed by a guy who has fucked up hair…"

"I'm going to have my lips bronzed… Uaaaa…" He stole another kiss before being pushed up the stairs and into his room, "What are you going to do now?" He climbed back under the covers.

"Go home, unpack, take a nap, find a hat to cover this joke of a haircut." He stretched.

"I didn't know you don't even give your editor your cell phone number."

"It's only for family and close friends. Not for her to track me down."

"She said you owed her some work."

"Yeah yeah… I'll get it to her tomorrow."

"Tell me about your trip home when I get better."

"Will do… You know, if you were so freaked out this week you could have used that number yourself."

"I didn't want to abuse the privilege." Yawn.

"Kind of you. Get some sleep."

"I wish you could stay..."

"Yeah… Well, I've had about as much of the suburbs as one city boy can take."

"Yuki-sama! There you are." Maiko interrupted, bowing and presenting a book to him, "Thank you!"

"Welcome. You want me to write anything in it in particular?"

"Just your beautiful name would be super!"

"All right…" He signed and gave it back to her, "Enjoy."

"Oh, I _will_… Are you sure I can't tell _anyone_?"

"I'm sure… and I'm out of here. Get well and all that crap." He raised a hand.

"Yeah… Working on it. Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem." He turned and walked out, Maiko trailing after him.

"Maiko! Leave him alone!!" He yelled and then coughed.

"But he's so hot!!"

"Just leave him alone! Stalker!"

She came stomping back to his room, "I _hate_ you! How could you keep him a secret??"

"Easy. I needed to cuz you're nuts."

"I wouldn't talk… Tell me _everything_ about him!" She plunked down.

"No. I'm going back to sleep. Go away."

"Come on!"

"No."

"You're an asshole!"

"I'm a _tired_ asshole. Bug off."

"Augh!"

She stomped away now and Shuichi smiled to himself. She _did_ know more about Yuki than he did, she just didn't realize it. What he could have told her about Yuki was confidential… That he was a great kisser, for example. That just one hug from him could make him hornier than he could explain and calm him down all at the same time. What he knew was completely emotional… and he was glad that for some reason Yuki appreciated his lack of fan-based knowledge.


	6. All Better but Not Any Easier

**Chapter Notes** - By popular demand, I'm updating this section of the story again!  
As usual, I've been mostly working on _**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_which is the other end of the story and is soon to have its 21st chapter. So here we are, updating their altered 'back story' a little. I toned down certain parts of this a lot because I thought perhaps it might be too racy for this medium - I think you'll figure out pretty quickly which parts I mean :) Hope you'll enjoy reading it even so.

**Please read and review :)**

* * *

As soon as the weekend came, Shuichi was running down the street back toward Eiri's apartment directly from school. The wall with the apartment buzzers brought him to a stop. He grinned and pressed, got buzzed in and passed Sachi who was on the way out.

"Hey! You're looking healthy again!" She smiled.

"Yeah, thanks so much for not just dumping me on the sidewalk! I owe you."

"No problem. You reminded him he owed me work. That was payment enough!" She held up a CD in a case, "Thank _you_. See ya!"

"Bye!" He hurried on to the door which was open with Eiri leaning there. Just the sight of him made Shuichi even more breathless than his running, "Hi…"

"Hello… All better?"

"Yup. Back to normal!"

"_Normal_, huh? I wouldn't go that far… Come on in." He stepped back and allowed Shuichi inside.

There was definitely no going back for Shuichi. He was in love. It was all reaffirmed for him, just from standing there and looking at Eiri, his heart pounding… and then, once the door was closed, Eiri took him into his arms with a slow kiss, turning him into a puddle of goo.

"I _love_ you… Teach me _everything_…Yuki… Oh, _Yuki_…" He murmured, stroking his beautiful pale face and kissing him again.

"Everything? Hmm? What are you talking about? Tutoring?"

"No… Not _that_. I want to know all about _you_. All the stuff that isn't fan-related. All the stuff that makes you who you are."

"Oh… You must have seen my interview."

"Interview? No. What interview?"

"The one I told your sister about? Ring a bell?"

"Oh… That one… Nah, I didn't but my sister taped it and keeps watching it over and over and over. It's kind of annoying."

"Fascinating… I just thought you were referring to what I said in the interview."

"Guess not." He shrugged, "Just what's in my own brain."

"I'm surprised you didn't watch."

"I decided I shouldn't because that's not you, really. It's just what people want to see of you… Hey, did the haircut go over good?"

"No! It didn't actually." He laughed and let go of Shuichi, "Did you finish your demo?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good. Give it."

He dug in his backpack for it, "Here ya go."

"A hot pink MiniDisc, huh? I guess I'm not surprised… I'll give it to Mika tonight."

"You're seeing her tonight?"

"Yep. Perfect timing." He placed the MiniDisc on the table by the door, "I trust your little sister is keeping her mouth shut about my visiting you?"

"Yeah, but I think she's doing dirty things with that book you signed."

"Special… I don't want details." He reached out now and unbuttoned Shuichi's coat the rest of the way, Shuichi watching, fascinated, "What? You can't stay for a while?"

"Well, sure I can… You just really don't like my uniform coat, huh?"

"Something like that."

"What, did you get beat up a lot in school and the uniform just brings up bad memories??" He laughed, ticklish as Eiri was trying to get him out of the coat.

"As a matter of fact… I didn't have a good time in school… because I looked like a gaijin. I didn't get beat up, just harassed. I was too much of a thug even as a kid. I could hold my own."

"I bet you could. Ow! Hey! Careful."

"I've never had so much trouble undressing anyone… You squirm too much."

"What's _with_ you? Someone slip you some ginseng?"

"You've been gone for three days now… and before that I was in Kyoto… The only satisfaction I've gotten has been a kiss in a suburban kitchen from a diseased school boy."

"You mean… you haven't been screwing around with anyone else in the mean time??"

"Nope. You wanna be my boyfriend? Put out."

"Pervert!" He protested for no reason before latching on to Eiri's body and lips, "Mmmmhhh…"

"That's more like it."

Before he knew it he was gasping on Eiri's bed, sheets and pillows everywhere. Finally being in bed with him was just too much, his pale flesh sliding under Shuichi's hands.

"Settle down… You're going to lose it." Eiri chewed on his ear.

"How the hell am I supposed to settle down?… Ahhh. Uaahhh… It's no _wonder _the chicks line up for you…"

"Well fine… Lose it if you need to but you should practice some restraint. It'll make you even happier in the long run if you don't give in immediately… Plus, you're not going anywhere until I'm finished. You're not the only one who's getting satisfied this time."

Shuichi gulped, feeling Eiri's hand tightening around him, "Take it _easy_. Don't _break _it! Aaah…"

"I'm not going to break it. Don't worry."

He did his best not to give in to his body's desire to just erupt from pleasure. It got easier to resist that urge when he realized that Eiri wasn't kidding. He was going _all _the way, no second thoughts. Shuichi did his best just to shut up and deal with it and the strange feelings… until finally something changed… It started to feel good. _Really _good. Shuichi came to the end at last, turning into a limp, quivering mass there beside Eiri.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Eiri stroked Shuichi's hair from where it was plastered by sweat against his forehead.

"Not all of it." He murmured, seeming to be going down for the count, eyes drowsing, "Parts were really good… parts were kinda bad… You're _huge_."

"Ha… Not _that_ big."

"Bigger than _me_…"

"True…" He sat up, pulling back the covers.

"W… Where are you going?"

"To get some water. I'll be right back." He got up, pulling on his shirt and leaving the room.

"Okay. Hurry." Shuichi just wanted to lay next to him for a while. He felt like a nerd for wanting to cuddle but there it was... He had lost his virginity and wanted to cuddle. "Maybe I _am_ being a wuss…"

Eiri came back and sat down on the bed with him, drinking from a bottle of mineral water, then helped him sit up, kissing him and letting him drink from the bottle, staying close.

"I'm so happy right now…" He sighed and leaned against him.

"Feeling less freaked out?"

"Yeah… I wish I didn't have to work tonight. Then I could see Mika's reaction when you give her that MD. I bet she's going to be super pissed."

"No doubt." He placed a kiss on Shuichi's forehead, still baffled by how much he just wanted to touch him, be affectionate. "You can see her face yourself before you go. She's meeting me here before we go out."

"When?"

"About an hour. Going to Shadow Bar's restaurant for dinner."

"Wow… You get to go there? That's so cool."

"Yeah… She likes to show off her last name." He smirked.

"I bet. Even Seguchi-san is probably scared of your sister."

"Probably… but then I suppose he wouldn't have married anyone else. He admires her drive."

"I'll stick with being scared." He took another clumsy gulp of water, Eiri licking a trail of it from his face and then kissing him again, "Ohhh… You're being so _nice_ to me…"

"I'm doing my best."

They ended up falling back onto the bed together, making out and then making love again. This time it was better for Shuichi now that he knew what to expect. He fell asleep afterward and Eiri went off to the shower, returning at last to sit on the bed beside him.

"Hey… Wake up." He rumpled Shuichi's hair, "Go hit the shower. You're gonna be late for work."

"Mmmh… I just want to stay here and _sleep_."

"Too bad. We both have to go. I'll drop you off at work on the way out. That way your presence can annoy Mika even more."

"Sounds good." He managed to sit up at last, "Hey… Just how many times can you go in a day? Are you on viagra or something?"

"I can go as many times as I am inspired to. I'd do you again if we didn't have other obligations." He smirked.

"I think I've had all I can take today, thanks…"

One more kiss and he dragged himself out of bed, pulling the sheets along with him to the master bath where he enjoyed Eiri's extra special bath facilities for the first time. He was exhausted but the shower was invigorating. Sex with him was definitely an interactive experience. The last round had been _amazing_ since he relaxed. The first round had been amazing but nerve wracking and a little painful. He definitely liked it when Eiri was more affectionate with him. He smiled and leaned against the wall, feeling giddy, water heating his sore muscles.

"Gaaa… I _love_ you, Yuki."

He focused on washing up and getting dressed, hearing voices out in the living area now that he was out of the bathroom. Mika had arrived. Shuichi gulped. If only it could have been a peaceful and romantic evening, just the two of them… No Mika-witch. No job to go to. He supposed that it would never quite be easy to be with Eiri. His life was a huge thing. Shuichi crept out into the hall, listening in.

"What is it with you and this kid?? Why is he still hanging around? Holy crap, Eiri… Even the actresses and models you've banged only lasted a week at most!"

"So?"

"My point is, what the fuck is the attraction that keeps him around when you bail on hot chicks on an hourly basis?"

"Have you ever spent _time_ with a model? Or an actress? They're a pain in the ass, worse than _you_, even. They're always yapping about themselves, trying to make me buy them shit. It's annoying."

"Oh? Then what the hell does this brat have to talk about that's so damn special?"

"Eh… Other stuff. I'm not going to get into the details. I like him. He's got guts. Are you going to take this demo to Touma or what?"

"Have you listened to it?"

"No. Jpop is not my thing. I'll leave it to the master to decide his fate. I'm merely here to pass it on for scrutiny."

"It probably sucks."

"It might. I've seen them perform. So has Touma… but he was so bent on figuring out why I was there that I don't think he paid attention. They've got some spunk. The crowd liked them. So live up to your end of the bargain and take it."

"He said he wasn't going to make you go…"

"I didn't go because he told me to. In fact he told me not to go. I went because I decided that it would be worth it to get his demo passed on. You made the deal, Mika. You didn't put any time length on my stay, nor did you even dictate what would have to happen during my stay there. I went. Four days. I came back home. Done. Live with it..."

"Fine. I'll call Touma when we get to the restaurant. I'll make him listen to it and tell you what he thinks to your face. Then can you ditch the kid? It's starting to get creepy…"

"You don't get to tell me who I can spend time with, aneka. He stays."

"Ugh… _Fine_…"

Shuichi smiled, happy to hear he wasn't about to be dumped.

"What was wrong with that chick? The one they mentioned in your interview?"

"Hitomi?"

"Yeah, that's her. Kishimoto-san. The soap star. She's cute. You went out to that benefit with her. Doesn't she get your rocks off?"

"Like I said… Dull, boring, nice tits… That's it."

"God… What's going to happen if this gets out? You can kiss your career goodbye if it gets leaked that you're messing with this kid."

"Is this how our entire night is going to be? Can you shut up about Shuichi already?"

"Haven't you thought about that? What if he's runs to the press? You're screwed!"

"He's not going to say anything."

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm not. How can you be sure I'm not about to punch you?"

"Hey! Quit being a thug, Eiri."

"My point is, no one can be 100 percent sure of anything. Quit changing the subject. MD to Touma or you're on my shit list at a higher number than you already are."

"You better buy me dinner tonight." She grumbled.

"Whatever…"

Shuichi came out at that point and she glared at him, "Well, well… There's your little Princess in the flesh."

"Hey…" He tried a smile and wave to be friendly.

"Fresh from the shower and all. I think I'm going to be sick." She folded her arms.

"I guess this will be one cheap dinner then." He lit a smoke, "You ready to go to work?"

"Yup. I'll get my coat." He picked it up from where it had been hastily discarded on the hall table, grabbing his backpack from the floor, "Okay. I'm good."

"Great. Let's go."

"You're taking him to work _again_??" Mika complained.

"Yeah. And? You can wait for dinner for a few minutes. And I swear I'll give you the beat down if you ever show up at his work to bug him. Get me?"

"All right already. I get it."

"You already screwed up his school for him, he doesn't need any more help."

"I'll never eat at McDonalds again..."

"I work at a legit place, not _fast food_. I mean, it's not Shadow Bar…" Shuichi grumbled.

"Famous actress or student with part time job… Hmmm… Tough choice!"

"Quiet, you." Eiri went past her and ushered Shuichi out, she following along down to the car, "Mika, get in."

"Okay, you two _lovebirds _can have some privacy. I'll even plug my ears so I don't puke."

"Good for you. Get on it." He waited until she got in the car, "Sorry about this."

"It's okay." Shuichi shrugged.

"No… I mean about _all_ of it. I'm pretty sure you heard the whole thing…"

"Yeah, most of it... It's still okay… By the way, I'm not going to tell anyone."

"I wasn't worried." He smiled slightly, "What ya got going on, Saturday?"

"Practice in the morning… We're doing a music fest in the park in the late afternoon."

"Ah…"

"I can come by after… Or you could come to the show…?"

"We'll see. I'll see you at least in the evening, right?"

"Right."

"Okay… Get in."

"_Yuki_…" He wished Mika wasn't there so he could tell him how he was feeling.

"Yeah… I know… Get in." He put his hand on Shuichi's shoulder and that touch was enough.

Shuichi sat quietly in the back, Mika turning around to eye him.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He made a face.

"Snotty little brat. Don't you know who I am?"

"Yeah. Big whoop. You're also the freak that kidnapped me from school in the middle of a test. Being married to someone famous doesn't give you free license to ruin my life."

"I'd say you're on the road to ruining _two_ lives right now, stupid."

"Mika… Back off." Eiri interjected, "Face front, no talking or you're getting out of the car… and I'm not going to slow down when you go."

Finally he was on the curb, watching the car drive away… and already he missed Eiri.

"You've lost your mind." Mika picked up again, lighting a cigarette.

"No I haven't. Clear as a bell."

"What, are you in _love_?"

"Chh… What the hell is love anyway. It's just a marketing scheme as far as I can tell."

"You act all tough but you're soft on him. You've never even been with a guy before. What the hell? Is Tatsua rubbing off on you or something?"

"I hope not. Then I'd develop mad obsessions with old men. No thanks."

* * *

By the time Shuichi got home from work that night, he had decided to watch the interview his sister had taped. Everyone was already asleep in the house and since he had heard the interview referenced by Eiri _and_ his sister Mika, he really wanted to see it despite his best judgment… Eiri was his lover now… Did he need to see this to understand him? No… Not _need_ to… He was just curious… There was also the fact that he felt lonely and just to see Eiri on TV might be better than sitting there alone in the dark.

"… And now as part of our series on the Tokyo Spring Performing Arts Festival we are honored to be joined by award-winning author Eiri Yuki." The host of the show introduced and the studio audience applauded loudly, Eiri sitting peacefully with a slight smile, very professional, nodding to acknowledge the crowd, "Yuki-sensei… Your short form plays known collectively as _Seasons_ will be one of the jewels of the festival."

"Well… I am not sure that I would go so far as to say _jewels_…" He laughed quietly.

"I know that I am looking forward to seeing them performed in series. And by such a magnificent cast! You must be excited."

"I will be more curious to see what the director will do…"

"My… It does not appear that you are excited at _all_, Yuki-sensei!" She batted her eyelashes at him.

"In honesty, it is difficult to see how each successive cast and director interprets the plays. The _Seasons_ series has been given far more attention than it deserves based upon my reputation for writing, I'm afraid. I've seen them a few too many times." He smirked, "Which is not to say that this fine cast will not put on a fine show. I am surprised by the names that have come up for the parts."

"It truly is a spectacular cast that is forming! I've heard that the performances are sold out already including the charity night. At 500,000 Yen (*about 5k USD) a seat, your work will be benefiting a great cause."

"I am grateful to the board for allowing the donation and for all involved for putting the extra show on."

"Will you be authoring any new plays?"

"No. I think not. I prefer my writing to be in novel or short story form."

"I hear that you will be having a new short story published in the National Writers Association magazine this month. A little something to tide over your fans until your next novel?"

"I hope it will. There will be three short stories in all, one each for the next three months. I've enjoyed putting them together and I hope that the readers will enjoy them as well."

"Your readers can't get enough of your work, Yuki-sensei. They're still clearing the shelves of your new novel _Animus_. You've been on the best seller list again for 10 weeks running. Do you think perhaps you might best your record from _Shiro/Kuro_?"

"Who can say? I'm just pleased that my work is still being well received."

"You are too shy, Yuki-sama."

"That is the farthest from what I've been called lately." He chuckled.

"You are definitely not too bashful to be seen with the ladies… You were in the company of our own Hitomi Kishimoto at a recent benefit gala."

Shuichi cringed at seeing the image they put up of the hot young actress hanging off Eiri's tuxedoed arm, all smiles, all cleavage… Eiri looking rather cool about the entire thing as though it was all very normal for him… and Shuichi was sure it _was_ very normal for him which made it worse.

"Will lovely Kishimoto-san be joining you at the honor table for this benefit? I heard that you ran into her in the green room before coming out here… Are there sparks of love flying for the romance novelist?"

"There _better_ not be…" Shuichi growled.

"Teshi-san… After so many interviews… you should know me better than that." He shook his head, giving her a look.

"Oh, not that boring 'there's no such thing as love'… Come now, Yuki-sama."

"I could go back to my standard statement, yes… However… I have been given pause to reconsider my position on the subject."

The crowd reacted with excitement to this and Shuichi gulped. Eiri held up a hand and the crowd quieted.

"Kishimoto-san is a lovely young woman, however I believe that I was low on her list for possible escorts. I'm sure that I was the best she could do on such short notice." He smirked.

"You're not getting away so easily, Yuki-sama… I'm sure that Kishimoto-san was _very_ pleased to be in your company… but are you saying that she is not the author, per se, of this change of attitude?"

"She is not… I did not say my attitude had changed either… Rather that I have been given a new perspective over the past couple months."

"Perhaps by a fan of yours??"

"No no… Not at all. I have found that I cannot have any kind of involvement with fans of my work. Fans know the surface, and as you well know, I am much different than the novels I write… For now, that is all I am willing to disclose about my personal life."

"Then you are _very_ lucky, for we are just out of time. You might not get away so lucky in the future! A pleasure to have you on our show as always. I will be watching to see who will be sitting beside you at the _Seasons_ benefit performance." She clapped for him as the show's theme music kicked in and the crowd applauded and yelled, cameras panning out into commercial.

Shuichi just stared as the TV went to static.

"Was that me? Was he talking about _me_? Sparks of love can be flying for you as long as they're for _me_!" He flopped down onto the sofa, "Am I really having that effect on him? Does he really feel something? Something to change his mind? Gaaa… I _love_ you…" He yawned, "I'm too tired to move… Ugh…"

With that he fell asleep on the sofa for the night.

* * *

**And thus ends Chapter 6 of **_Remix - Beginning of the New Ending_** - Want more? Review!**

**PS - Please do not send PM's unless you have the ability to receive responses :)**  
Lots of people have their PM's disabled, and some are just not set up to actually read the email notices that come in when they have a PM in the new "Inbox" here on FF. It's third tab over when you login here - Inbox NEW


	7. Best Day Ever, So Far

**Chapter Notes** - It's somehow summer and I'm finally updating this section of the story again!  
_**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_which is the other end of the story and is soon to have its 22nd chapter. Life seems to be going well for Shuichi. Let's see where that takes him, shall we?

**Please read and review :)**

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Saturday morning he sat down with Hiro at their favorite diner to have breakfast and go over their set list. He wondered if Yuki would show up to the park to see them play. He also wondered what happened with Yuki's night at Shadow Bar… If their demo had been well received… But he realized that Yuki didn't have his cell number so couldn't call to tell him… and he didn't want to be a pest to Yuki and call him to ask about it.

"What's eating you?" Hiro nudged him.

"Nothing… Just wondering…"

"About the demo? I'm sure that Touma Seguchi has better things to do than listen to our crappy demo… I mean, it was good by _our_ standards… but it's no NRG."

"Yeah. I know." He sighed.

"Hey, it was a great opportunity. At least we can say we've been heard by the best of the best. Right?"

"Sure. I guess so. I just hope one day that we're good enough to be _with_ the best of the best."

"Yeah. Wouldn't that be something?… Keep working on the list. I'm going to hit the john." He got up and wandered off.

Shuichi got out his phone then, typing in a text message and sending it off. Perhaps that would be less intrusive than a phone call. Just when he was regretting it and feeling like a total loser, a reply came back.

"Just do your best today. Don't worry so much. Thanks for your number. See you later."

"Uahhh… _Yuki_…" He melted and Hiro found him teary-eyed when he returned to their usual booth.

"Awww… What happened? Did your pookie-wookie call you?" He slid over to Shuichi's side and mussed up his hair.

"Text message." He nodded, still admiring the words on his phone.

"Shu shu is in _wuv_." He mocked.

"Yeah, I am. So shut it."

The day didn't exactly go as he had expected but they did play a good set and it was a good crowd out at the park. No sign of Yuki in the audience though… Not that he expected there to be in such a public setting. It was probably for the best, he told himself, because Yuki would have just gotten mobbed and then there would have been no one listening to their music at all! At least this way they had the crowd's attention and a lot of positive reaction to their work.

They packed up their gear and headed out to the car they were borrowing from Hiro's cousin. There in the parking lot entrance, was a guy in a suit and sunglasses. He was definitely out of place.

"What's up with _him_?" Shuichi wondered.

"Dunno. Hardcore salary-man that can't take his suit off on the weekend, no doubt."

"Yuck… Hey, where'd you park? My arms are killing me!" He complained.

"Wuss… Over there."

Hiro nodded in the general direction, so they cut across the lawn. The guy in the suit followed them.

"Do you think he's a stalker?" Shuichi wondered.

"Maybe he thinks you're cute." Hiro snickered, "Don't you worry, little man. I'll protect whatever's left of your virtue! But, wait! How can I protect _zero_?" He had a good laugh.

"Yeah… Thanks… Jerk." He grumbled.

As it turned out, the suit was indeed following them. Right up to the car, in fact, "Umm…" Hiro wondered and put down his case to open the trunk, "What's up, man?"

"Shuichi Shindou? Hiroshi Nakano?" He smiled.

"Yeah, that's us."

"My card." He flourished one out of his suit pocket and Shuichi took it after putting down his stuff.

"You're… from NRG Studios…" He gaped.

"Yes. Sakano, at your service, young gentlemen. Heard your demo and I saw your set today. Good energy. The crowd was very keyed into you. You have a hell of a voice, Shindou-san. You're no slacker with the strings, Nakano-san… How would you like to join the NRG Studios family?"

"Huh? Us?" Hiro was shocked.

"_Seriously_??" Shuichi squeaked.

"Of course. I'll be your Manager for now. Let's hope your name isn't true… Welcome aboard, Bad Luck." He smiled and the Shuichi fainted, Hiro catching him before he hit the ground, "Umm… What happened to him?"

"He just does that sometimes when he's too happy to adequately express it. Thank you, Sakano-san. We _definitely_ won't let you down."

At least that answered Shuichi's questions about what had become of their demo. Apparently it had gone a long way over the course of a night and the morning.

"Hey… Wake up." Hiro patted Shuichi's cheek, sitting on the ground with him where he was sprawled beside the car, "There you are. Welcome back!" He smiled down at Shuichi's crossed eyes.

"Hiro… Oh, wow. Sorry. I musta been more tired than I thought… I had the _weirdest_ dream just now."

"I bet you did… Come on. Get in the car."

"Okay…" He got a lift up and over to the passenger side, "It was funny… Some guy asked us to join NRG Studios…" He got in.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah… Is everything in the car already?"

"Yep. Don't worry." He shut the door and went around to the other side, climbing in, "So… About this dream you just had…"

"This kinda nerdy salary-man in a suit asked us to join. How cool would _that_ be?"

"Shuichi… Tilt your seat back." Hiro said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Just _do_ it."

"Umm… Okay." He tilted it back, "What for?"

"So that when you faint again you won't bash your head into the dashboard… That wasn't a dream. We've been recruited as NRG Studios' newest band. I assumed you'd say yes, so after you passed out I agreed for both of us."

Shuichi sat still for a moment and then frowned at Hiro from his reclined position, "That's not _nice_… Screwing with me when I passed out…"

"I'm not screwing with you, dummy." He handed Shuichi back the card from Sakano, "You dropped this."

"Wh… What?? This can't be true!!"

"Yep, it's true. You giving up your cherry to Eiri Yuki seems to be doing us a world of good." He patted Shuichi's overwhelmed head, "You must be good in bed! Way to go!"

"Thanks!" He grinned, "Hey, wait! Who says I gave up anything to anyone??"

"You musta in order to get this fast of a response… Plus you looked _way_ more relaxed today. That can only mean one thing…" He peered at Shuichi who blushed hotly. Hiro made it worse in response, "Sex fiend!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh, calm down. It's _great_ that you're finally getting some… and that we're getting the chance of a lifetime as a result… Just. Be. Happy. Okay?"

He gulped, "Yeah… I am…" And then he passed out again, Hiro laughing at him.

"Well, at least I called it right." He reached over and secured Shuichi's seatbelt, "Let's go home, super star."

That evening Shuichi was making a bee-line for Yuki's apartment again… filled with questions, pent up emotions, and excitement. He stopped off at a store on the way there, shopping for a card for his mother's birthday which was on Sunday. He had almost forgotten but Maiko had reminded him fortunately before he had gone out the door again. He was going through the racks of cards at the upscale store near Yuki's place when a voice came to his ear from behind.

"Fancy meeting you here…"

And he almost jumped out of his skin, "Gaaaa!!!" He caught his breath, seeing Yuki smirking at him in a very self-satisfied way, "Don't _do_ that! You _asshole_! You almost killed me!" He gave him a good shove as a reward.

"But not quite. You're still ticking… What are you doing?"

"I forgot it was my mom's birthday tomorrow… I'm getting a card." He caught his breath, "What are you _doing_, stalking around here?"

"Shopping." He held up the basket, "For a few things for dinner tonight."

"Hot date?"

"If I play my cards right…" He nodded.

"Lucky _you_…" He scowled.

"Hmm… What is _that_ angry look for?"

"I thought _I_ was going to come over tonight. I thought _I_ was invited…" He hissed so no one shopping nearby would hear him as he felt his heart crumbling at the notion that Yuki was already ditching him for some chick.

"You _are _invited, dumb-ass. I'm cooking for _you_."

"Oh… Oh!" He smiled again, "You're just fucking with me now, you bastard."

"What fun would I have if I didn't?"

"You could try and find a hobby that was healthier for my heart."

"Are you pissed now? I guess you won't forgive me even…." He rummaged in the trendy leather messenger bag he had slung over his shoulder, producing a plastic game case, "for this?"

Shuichi gaped, mouth dropping open at the sight of the game Yuki was showing him, "What the- Where? How did you _get_ this? It's not on the shelves for another month at _least_!"

"I have connections high up." He pulled it away before Shuichi could grab it, "No no! Bad boy. You're not getting a leg up on me this time, brat. This time we play as equals. You don't get to learn any special moves before I do."

"Seriously, how did you _get_ this??"

"Touma had it. Brought it over to Shadow Bar for me. He knows I like games, at least way more than he does… So do you forgive me?"

"Sure, now hand it over!" He lunged, getting pushed away easily by his taller opponent.

"Screw you, punk. You don't get to touch it until it's time to face off." He put the case back in his bag, "See you in a little while…" He winked and went off down the aisle.

"You're going _down_, loser! You _still_ fail to understand the hours of game-play experience I've racked up after years of slacking off on homework!"

"Yeah, yeah…" He waved a hand and kept on going without turning around.

Again his heart was pounding, "_This is my dream date… This is so cool!!_"

He was mostly relieved that everything was on the right track, in spite of his sudden shock of thinking he'd been dumped so fast. He hurried to pick out a card then ran down the street to Yuki's apartment, catching up to him at the building entrance, panting.

"Don't strain yourself. You're going to need all the energy you can get for the beat-down you're going to experience."

"Don't be so cocky. Eternal Combat isn't that much different than StreetWars. I beat you plenty at that, so I can beat you again. No sweat."

"_Narrowly. _You beat me _narrowly_." He punched in his security code then pushed open the door, Shuichi following him across the front hall to get in the elevator, "You had the advantage from having played the old versions more… and I'd only played against the game, not another person. I think I can crush you this time."

"Not likely." He leaned against the elevator wall beside Yuki, hand reaching for his, fingers lacing together and thrilling him even more, "I'm going to utterly _destroy_ you."

"Chh… Dream on, brat."

"You know better than anyone that I have huge dreams."

"True…" He let go of Shuichi's hand when the elevator stopped, "Prepare to be annihilated."

"You have big dreams too, I guess. Wake up, Yuki! You're dreeeeeaming! Time to go be schooled."

"Ooh… Nice smack-talk. I'm impressed. Now if only you could be that clever on your tests."

"You get to help me with my homework too, so try not to break down sobbing like a little girl when I whoop you."

"Shut up and get in the apartment." He shoved Shuichi inside as soon as the door was open.

"I just have to decide what kind of victory dance to do. How about this? In your face, in your face! Woo!!" He jumped around.

"Didn't you spend all your energy today at your performance?"

"No way. Being on stage is like a drug. I have _loads_ of energy now."

"Just _watching_ you wears me out…" He walked away to the kitchen to put away the few things he'd bought, Shuichi chasing after him as soon as he'd pried his shoes off in the front entry.

"Hey! Come back here! Let me have the game!"

"No!"

"I just want to hug it!"

"No!"

"Sniff it!"

"And you call your _sister_ weird for doing dirty things with my book…" He pushed Shuichi away when he attached, trying to get into the bag.

"She _is_ weird. This is _totally_ different!"

"Down boy! Get off me, freak!"

"Have mercy on me! Give it up, Yuki!"

"Detach or you're gonna go hungry!"

"Awww! You're so cruel!"

"You can wait."

"This is like _torture_." He slumped against the kitchen counter and pouted.

"Poor thing." He patted Shuichi's head, "Now get out of the way so I can work."

"I can help."

"You break stuff. Get lost."

He took a seat on his usual stool, getting a can of soda as compensation for shutting up. Eventually he calmed down a bit, watching Yuki working on their meal.

"So… Umm… Will it annoy you if I tell you about the show today?"

"Go for it."

So he blabbed on about his day until he got to the end…

"….and then this suit-guy followed us to the parking lot and gave us his card and said that he wanted to sign us to NRG Studios."

"You don't say… Let's see the card."

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled it out, laying it on the slate counter. Yuki looked at it.

"Sakano… Interesting."

"What does that mean to you? Do you know him? How'd he get our demo? What happened at Shadow Bar? Did Seguchi-san really show? Did he hear the demo? Decide to sign us and send that dude to the park to see us?"

"Are you going to quit talking so I can respond?"

"Oh… Yeah. Sorry." He grinned.

"Touma did show up. He listened to your demo."

"Wow…"

"He said it was rough and you had a long way to go before you were professional."

"Oh…" He slumped.

"But he did say you had a strong voice and with some training and experience, you'd be presentable."

"Really? Wow. That's better than I hoped! But… how did our demo get to Sakano-san?"

"Touma said he'd pass it on to another set of ears, that perhaps he was being too harsh since you were so young. Apparently Sakano is available for a project."

"Who is he, anyhow?"

"One of Touma's loyal suit-dogs. He worked with NRG near the end of their performing career as they were starting up the studio. He also worked with Ryuichi Sakuma when he did solo work, along with a gaijin manager."

"No way! Ryuichi Sakuma! He's been in the same airspace as Sakuma-sama??"

"So will you be, at the studios. Touma mentioned that he's back from the USA and back in the studio writing, composing."

"I might run into him in the hall some day… How cool would _that_ be? I wonder what I'd say? What can you say to a _genius_??"

"Hi… How's it going? Try that for starters."

"You can't just do that with someone like Sakuma-sama!"

"Why not? I do."

"You… You've _talked_ to him?"

"Plenty."

"Can I sniff you? Maybe I can _smell_ him on you." His eyes bulged in awe.

"Fuck off."

"Dammit, you just keep dangling all these beautiful things in front of me as teases!"

"So I take it from your yapping and from the gigantic poster on your bedroom wall, that you're a fan of Ryuichi Sakuma as much as your sister is a fan of mine?"

"_Way_ more. He's the whole reason I started to sing."

"Interesting. Maybe you two were separated at birth…"

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Sakuma-san's kanji is even worse than yours, believe it or not."

"Don't _lie_ like that! Take it back! Blasphemy!"

"Settle down. Ryuichi Sakuma is just as human as _you_ are. You don't have to get all wound up around him."

"Yes I do!"

"Why bother? He won't appreciate it. Just like I don't appreciate it when fans throw themselves at me."

"So the great Eiri Yuki doesn't bow before the great Ryuichi Sakuma?"

"No. He's a guy. I've known him for years, before they all got famous. Just like Seguchi, just like Ukai. We're all people under the fame."

"Yeah… I guess… but… to me, he's a _god_… What do you do? Do you hang out with him?"

"Sometimes." He nodded, "With Ryu, mostly we play pool, drink beer… Just like normal guys but in less normal surroundings. It's hard to be normal when people are crowding you so we go places like we did the other night… Shadow Bar, Hyper Lounge…"

"Places that norms like me can't even _look_ at without getting yelled at by a bouncer."

"Exactly. Where the drooling Shuichi's and Maiko's of the world can't get to us."

"It is still _way_ cool that you've actually spent time just chilling out with him. Wow… I bet you can just call him up any old time and chat."

"He's not much of a chatter… but I do have his number."

"That is _sooo_-"

"Shut up. It's not _cool_. It's just _life_. I have your number too. BFD."

"It _is_ a big deal! Are they close together in your list?" He raised an eyebrow at Yuki who ignored him.

"Since I know you don't really think things through… I'm curious…" He finished chopping vegetables and tossed them into the pot in a flourish that Shuichi imagined was befitting a great chef, "What are you going to do if you ever become famous? When your freedom is restricted by your face, by your name?"

"Whattaya mean?"

"I mean… Wait… I'll give you an example… Myself, I have a certain level of fame, especially in the Tokyo area. People are always noticing me, crowding me, asking me questions, wanting autographs… but I have it pretty easy. I can still go out and sometimes people will just leave me alone, keep their distance and point and whisper perhaps. Right now I'm actually enjoying this horrible haircut. If I go out like this with my glasses on and slightly different clothing style… I become someone else. No one bothered me at the store tonight. It was rather freeing… How are you going to handle that? Not being able to go where you want to whenever you want to without escorts? Bodyguards? Not even able to go to the store to buy your mother a birthday card without it becoming a huge event?"

"I don't think I'll ever become _that_ famous." He shrugged.

"What do you want then? You've got wheels in motion that will carry you in that direction, unless you totally blow it."

"I dunno… I just want to sing and write music, really. That's all. It's what I love. I can't imagine getting to be famous like you… or like Ryuichi Sakuma."

"Your chosen career puts your face and name out there far more than mine does. You'll be on stage. I'm on dust covers, sometimes on TV interviews and fan magazines… but I am kind of a strange case for an author. I have an unusual amount of exposure... Chances are that if you make it, so to speak, your face and name will be far more recognizable than mine. Let's face it… More people listen to CDs than read books these days."

"True… But I guess I can always hang out with _you_, right? You'll _never_ be a fan of my music so you won't get all weird and stalker-fan-like on me." He grinned again.

"You know… it's like talking to a brick wall with you…"

"Whaaa…? Tell me what I'm missing. Dumb it down for me, Yukiiii…" He begged.

"I'm just not sure you've given any thought to where you're trying to get. That's my point. There is a price to fame. I wonder how you'll deal with it." He went back to working on their meal.

"Are you ever sad that you're where you are today? Does your fame bother you so much?"

"At times, yes it does. That's why I go to the USA so often. No one knows me there. It's a relief… I can't complain… I've enjoyed it all too… but I am more of a solitary person, so it probably feels different to me than it would to you. Who can say? You might just love it."

"I guess I'll deal with it when it happens… Not that it will…"

"There's another thing… Mika was right, unfortunately… If it gets out that you and I are more than friends… our careers are pretty much done for. I'm not so worried about my own… I am worried about you. No girl is going to hang your picture in her bedroom if she finds out that you're just as much in love with Eiri Yuki as she is." He smirked.

"There's a difference though… I get to _be_ with Eiri Yuki and eat his cooking and play games and just… just _be_ with you… I get what you're saying. Thank you for looking out for me, even when I'm not…"

"Sure."

"Yuki… I can sing _anywhere_ and be happy… but there's only one _you_ that makes me happy. I'm not going to give you up. I can't."

"Yes… Well…"

"I'm _serious_… There were always two things that made up the core of who I am… My music with all the energy that comes with it… and this empty space that I didn't know what it was for, it was just there. Now I know what it's for. I'm completely serious about that. You're so incredibly important to me. You don't even know…"

"I think I am beginning to."

"Good… And now you know exactly where my life is… Full speed ahead and no thoughts about the future! Yay, me! I never plan ahead." He laughed at himself.

"I suppose that way everything is always a surprise to you, nnh?"

"True." He leaned forward, forehead resting on the cool slate, "I just don't even want to think that far ahead. I'm already overwhelmed as it is. I have a small brain, yanno."

"Yes, I am well aware."

"You _could_ just say 'oh now don't be so hard on yourself, Shu-chan. You're super smart!'"

"I'm not one to lie… but you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself." He rounded the counter and rubbed Shuichi's scalp while he rested there, "After all… with so little a brain, it might just overheat and burst from the stress."

"At least _half_ of that was nice… Asshole."

"You're welcome. Sit up so you don't leave a grease stain on my counter top."

He sighed and sat up, "Thanks a whole load for getting that MD over to Seguchi-san. I really do appreciate the sacrifice you made."

"Funny thing is, you might never know how much of a sacrifice it was after all." He smirked.

"Wha? Oh, man… No more riddles. I'm already over-worked in the brain as it is."

"No more riddles. I don't want to talk about it, actually. So you're safe."

"Good… So, who are you taking to the benefit performance of _Seasons_? Inquiring minds want to know…."

"I see you watched the interview at last." He smiled more and went back to work.

"Yeah, I _had_ to since you and Mika both mentioned it. The curiosity was killing me… Now I'm curious _again_."

"There's only one person that would fit the bill that the interviewer laid out… and unfortunately, I don't think they're much into theater."

"You never know. That Hitomi chick looks like a real intellect."

"NOT."

"If she touches you again I'm gonna pop her implants." He grumbled.

"You're a jealous little bitch, aren't you?"

"You bet. I want you all to my selfish self."

"You have to share me with the rest of the world too… There are just some things I can't take you to. Besides, you'd fall asleep. The plays are seriously not as good as they're being made out to be. They're something I wrote during university that got picked up after I got popular. I don't know how I'm going to stay awake."

"Lots of dirty thoughts and caffeine." Shuichi nodded, slurping his soda.

"Good idea… Maybe I'll take Mika. That should throw people off… or just make me look like a pathetic loser to be taking my sister out… I could take _your_ sister. She's kinda like you with boobs."

"Forget it! You keep your hands _off_ my sister!!"

"Woah… Is that jealousy or brotherly protectiveness?"

"_Both_." He growled, and then dropped it when Yuki laughed, "Hey… Ummm…"

"What?"

"Can you maybe… introduce me to Sakuma-sama?"

"No. He'll do that himself. When he hears there's a new band in-house he'll come looking around on his own. Just be _normal_ to him. Don't fall down sobbing at his feet. The guy's a little unusual, personality-wise. You don't get that from his stage persona. Talk to him like you talk to me. Like you could care less about his career."

"That'll be nearly impossible… What's he like in real life?"

"More like you than I care to admit. You'll see."

He finally got to play with Yuki after dinner, spending hours just screwing around with this incredibly cool new video game and his incredibly cool boyfriend. Yuki went online with it---one of the features of the new version of the game---and hooked up to someone else who was playing, letting Shuichi play the new competitor while he had a smoke break. There had only been three other names showing as available to play, but it seemed Yuki had picked the best of them, a player whose tag was Usagi.

"Who else has this pre-release?? Holy _crap_ he's good!" He fell back on the sofa as he got beaten again.

"Lots of people have it who are connected. Touma had a few copies. I'm not sure all of who he handed them out to."

His competitor sent him a message.

"U suk I rule :P."

"You got lucky! Rematch!"

"Usagi vs Uesugi. Rock on, lamer." Came across the screen.

"Huh?" He wondered what that meant for a moment before the game restarted, getting creamed again.

"Who da man?? Eiri-kun can't play!"

"This guy _knows_ you…"

"Yeah, I know." Yuki had a swig of his beer, reclining on the sofa.

"Who is it?"

"Just someone I know."

"Mind if I talk smack? Or will I get you in trouble?"

"Have fun. I think he's up to it."

Shuichi grabbed the keyboard accessory, typing furiously, "Eat it, you dirty hippie. I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Oohh… I'm sooooo scared!" Was typed back.

"You will be, be-yotch!. Let's rock!"

"Ow…" Yuki winced as the fight started again, Shuichi selecting a new character and stomping on his competition. He had been playing one of the new ones that he wasn't familiar with. This one, he knew from years of game play.

"Now who's the man? Me! Hahahahaha."

"You killed my hot chick! You suk Eiri!"

It went on that way for a while, with them trading characters, text and wins. Then the guy thanked him for the competition and signed off.

"Wow. That was _awesome_! Internet play rules."

"It was pretty darned speedy, that's for sure." Yuki's cell phone rang and he answered, smiling, "Yeh, that wasn't me… I just watched the bloodshed… Friend of mine. You might meet him soon. Shuichi Shindou… Uh huh… Sure… Good night." He closed the phone.

"Was that my nameless rabbit opponent?"

"Yep. He said to thank you for the excellent challenge. That he had a lot of fun… Usagi is Ryuichi. Congratulations. You talked to him like a person instead of a god."

"You're so lying to me…" His jaw dropped.

"I am not. He's a gamer."

"I beat up Ryuichi! Gaah! How could you let me _do_ that??"

"Easy. You both had fun. Get over it."

He sat still for a moment, absorbing everything that had happened to him that day, "I can't _wait_ to tell Hiro… This is the best day _ever_!" With that, he pounced on Yuki to finish that day off right.

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**And thus ends Chapter 7 of **_Remix - Beginning of the New Ending_** - Want more? Review!**


	8. Rules

**Chapter Notes** - Oh, my... I did get busy and stopped pushing chapters to the various stories I have running on this site. I told myself I would get around to cleaning chapters over the holiday, but that didn't happen, so I thought I'd get around to pushing a couple over the next few weeks. These next two will be 'shorties'. Little vignettes into the lives of the boys as things are changing all around.  
_**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_which is the other end of the story and is soon to have its 23rd chapter, too. It's a long and involved one, so that's taking a lot more effort to clean up before publishing. For those who have been bugging me to hurry up and publish, that actually does work really well on me! Keep it up...

**Please read and review :)**

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At the NRG Studios for the first time, Shuichi was beside himself with nervousness and excitement. There was too much to take in all at once but he did his best to. Sakano-san was busy telling them the history of NRG Studios, which of course they already knew, and giving them information about the services they would find on each floor of the place, policies and all manner of information that just wasn't sinking in to Shuichi's or Hiro's head as they walked along through the place… Then they went to the studios themselves.

"3B will be your studio from now on. It's a bit small, but I think you'll find it very well equipped." Sakano unlocked the door and let them in.

"Coool…" Shuichi gasped, dizzy with joy at standing in their very own actual professional studio. He could hardly wait to start fooling with all the equipment.

They had to sign masses of papers next, sitting at the table there inside 3B. Shuichi kept taking peeks at Hiro, trying to get an idea of how he was feeling about things by reading his expression. It seemed that at the moment they were both on equal emotional footing because Hiro was keeping very quiet and looking dazed. Maybe even _his_ big brain couldn't handle the reality of their current surroundings. Somehow that made Shuichi feel a lot better about things.

"Sakano-san. I heard a rumor that Sakuma-san was back at work in the studio. Does this mean that NRG will be releasing a new CD?" He asked after a very long pause that had only been filled with the sounds of rustling paper, scribbling of names and pressing of official stamps.

"Oh, no. Sakuma-sama is always here when he is in Japan. He is constantly working on song writing. It's just the way he is, even if his work is never heard outside of his own studio… Now… Since we are on that subject, there are several _rules_ regarding Sakuma-sama that you must _always_ follow while you are here at NRG Studios. Failure to comply will result in your most immediate termination."

"Huh? You're kidding…"

"Not at all… Sakuma-sama was named a national treasure of Japan. We consider NRG Studios the Fort Knox for that treasure, always taking care to see to our leader's comforts while he is here… Rule number one… You will _not_ approach or speak to Sakuma-sama unless he approaches or speaks to you first. Rule number two… You will _not_ enter his studio without his express permission. Rule number three… When Sakuma-sama is in-house you will _not_ disturb him in any way. No loud noises on his studio floor and so on. Are you clear on these three rules?"

"Yes, sir." He and Hiro both nodded.

Over lunch in the commissary their new three rules were tested. Ryuichi Sakuma was there with some tall blond American-looking guy, just getting some food on a tray like everyone else. It was all Shuichi could do to sit still, not to throw himself at his idol's feet and beg for an autograph. Hiro was staring at him too. Neither of them had ever seen him off the stage, just being a regular guy… even if his version of being a regular guy was way cooler than anyone else's.

"It's actually _him_. Holy _crap_." Hiro said what Shuichi was thinking, "Dude, do you think that big foreigner is his body guard? He looks seriously dangerous."

"I dunno. We can't go ask either so we might as well try and eat."

"Right. Like I can eat _now_."

"Gentlemen, please contain yourselves." Sakano reminded.

"Yeah, easy for _you_ to say." Hiro chuckled and shook his head.

But then Ryuichi spied Sakano and made a fast break from the tall foreigner, heading directly toward their table.

"Ryuichi! Where the hell are you going??" The blond barked after him and gave chase just as he was arriving at their table, hands slapping onto the surface, leaning forward and grinning at Sakano. Shuichi nearly choked on his noodles, so close to him that he could feel the genius wafting through the air.

"Sakuma-sama… What can I do for you, sir?" Sakano flustered out.

"I heard there's a new band. Is this them??" His finger ticked back and forth between Hiro and Shuichi, "Had luck? No luck?"

"Bad Luck, sir. Yes. Would you like me to introduce you?"

"Yes, please!" He grinned.

"Hiroshi Nakano, guitarist, Shuichi Shindou, singer and song writer and keyboards. We are hoping to add a third member to their band for keyboards so that Shindou-san can focus on his singing."

"Shu…ichi…" He slid onto the bench beside him suddenly, peering at him, "I _know_ your name. _Why_ do I know your name?"

"W-We were playing Eternal Combat online last Saturday night, sir."

"Oh! Yeah! _You're_ the one that called me a dirty hippie!" He beamed, eyes shining.

"I… I didn't mean it _seriously_!" He gasped.

"Heh heh, I know you didn't. My hair's not _that_ long and I wash! It was funny. You're really good, too! I stopped playing because my hands were hurting so much from playing for two days practically non-stop. That game rocks the house!"

"Yeah, no lie. I was practically _drooling_ the entire time."

"Did you check the graphics? It's incredible!"

"The characters really flow in the game now. Yeah. A billion times better than the last edition. I mean, I still _love_ that one too but I could be convinced to cheat on it for the new version. You know?"

"Yeah, seriously. I like the music too. It's not all tinny and stuff. Something you can really fight to."

"And you can pick the tunes. And turn up the blood and gore. That was _so_ extra cool. Like when you knocked my guy's head off that one time and it went spinning off shooting blood all over. That was hilarious! I almost passed out from laughing so hard."

"I _remember_! I did too! Let's play again soon, okay??"

"Yeah! This time you're _so_ getting a beat-down. I've really got it now." Shuichi nodded with confidence.

"You think so, huh? Sounds like a challenge. I accept!"

"Bring it!"

"Hey!!" The big American yelled at them, breaking their bubble of video game bliss, "I hate to break up this PlayStation bonding, but you have an interview in ten minutes with Hit Stage, Ryu. Let's focus! FOCUS!!"

"Oh, yeah. Aww… Well, I gotta go. Welcome to NRG Studios, guys! I can't wait to hear what you have."

Shuichi blinked at the big, friendly smile on his idol's face, shocked that he had drifted off into that kind of conversation so easily, forgetting completely who he was talking to… and remembering Yuki saying that Ryuichi Sakuma's off-stage personality was a lot like his own.

"Hey, come up to my studio some time, Shuichi! I have games there, too!" He got up from the table.

"O… Okay." He gulped and then got a sudden hug from Ryuichi.

"Stop going all weird! You look like you just saw a ghost!"

"Ryu! FOCUS! Stop hugging. You're not in LA!" The big guy interrupted again.

"Oh, yeah…" He let go of a very shocked Shuichi, "Well, sometimes it's better to be American! Japanese should bow less and hug more!"

"Yeah, yeah. Move it out, soldier."

"Yessir. See ya!" Ryu winked and held up a hand in a parting wave before trailing off after the menacing looking blond guy who was carrying a tray of food.

"Bye…" Hiro and he both held up hands dumbly at his wave.

"What's he? The Sakuma-sama wrangler?" Hiro inquired.

"He's K Winchester, Sakuma-sama's chief manager _and_ bodyguard. Don't mess with him. He has _weapons_." Sakano nodded then turned to Shuichi, "Why didn't you tell me you're already part of the NRG inner circle??"

"Who, _me_?" Shuichi jumped in his seat at the sudden change in tone.

"You were playing _games_ with him! You already _know_ him and you didn't tell your _manager_? What kind of a relationship will this be if you keep things from your own _manager_??"

"Wahh…" He was surprised by Sakano's shift in attitude. He seemed suddenly a lot less confident and a lot more worried, "But I'm not _really_. I just know someone that knows him."

"In other words, you are _practically_ part of the inner circle! Who is it? Who is your insider?"

"I… can't really tell you. It's kinda confidential." He shrugged.

"How am I supposed to know how to treat you if I don't know who you know??" He leaned forward, looking desperate, wringing his hands, "You can _confide_ in your manager!"

"Gaa! Sakano-san, please calm down!"

"Oh… I get it." Hiro smiled.

"Do _you_ know?? Tell me, Nakano-san!" Sakano turned to him now.

"He needs to know who you know so he knows how important you are relative to his own position here at NRG." Hiro laughed.

"Exactly!" Sakano nodded.

"Really, Sakano-san. I'm just like anyone else in a brand new band here. Please treat me just like that. Honestly!"

"No… It was _you_ that Seguchi-sama was talking about after that club show… I remember now! No wonder he gave me the demo! And on a hot pink store-bought MD unit! I _thought_ something strange was going on!"

"You… You're wrong… I don't know Seguchi-sama at all! I swear!"

"Then how did you get your demo in through him? Who do you know??"

"Hey… Everyone's staring." Hiro pointed out.

"Ghh…" Sakano composed himself, lowering his voice, "You need to tell me. It's _important_."

"I can't. I'm sorry. I've been sworn to confidentiality. I'm sure you understand. Right?"

"Just a hint?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"He really can't tell you…" Hiro assured a very worried and pale Sakano, "Besides, it's not like he's going to use his connections. You can trust him. Shu-chan is a very honorable individual." He sipped his tea.

"Seriously. You don't need to get worked up. Whatever connection I have isn't even going to care if I get a paper cut. I'm on my own here."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm _positive_."

"All right… Then hurry up and eat! We have work to do!" Sakano got up and marched off.

"This place… is a little weird." Hiro watched him go.

"Yeah… Thanks for not blowing me in." Shuichi sighed with relief after all the excitement.

"No problem… Can I have that shirt?"

"Huh?"

"Ryuichi Sakuma _hugged_ that shirt. Pay me back for my silence. Give it!"

"I have to _wear_ this! I only have one shirt!"

"I'll trade you mine."

"Fine."

So they added to the weirdness by swapping T-shirts, people staring at them still.

"Ahhh… I can _feel_ the genius." Hiro smiled, "Quit looking at me that way. You got a hug AND you got to play Eternal Combat with him for hours. The new _unreleased_ version! I _hate_ you, Shuichi!"

"How come people keep _saying_ that?"

"Connection jealousy. You'll get over it." He shrugged.

"I hope so."

They ate in silence for a while until the big plasma TV on the wall--which was constantly tuned to the music station--brought on the live interview with Sakuma-sama. It was being conducted right inside his own private studio upstairs.

"Man, only Ryuichi Sakuma rates having a Hit Stage live show come to _him_." Hiro mused, "He sure is different up close and personal."

"Yeah, he is." It was true. Ryuichi had on his stage personality now that he was being interviewed. Still friendly but a lot calmer, composed, professional, not to mention way cool.

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**End of 'shortie' chapter 8 - Please review!**


	9. Little Brother

**Chapter Notes** - Here's the second 'shortie', as promised! I suppose it's a between-Christmas-and-New-Year's gift =D Oh my, it's Shuichi's first run-in with Tatsuha...

_**Remix, Ending and a New Beginning **_- I'm _still _working on it... It's getting complicated, you see. What I really need is a beta reader who's very familiar with the whole Gravitation 'thing' to comment on some items. Anyone want to volunteer? I need some opinions...

**Please read and review :) **_(and show me your ABJDs!)_**  
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In a couple weeks, Shuichi was exhausted but extremely happy. Everything in the world seemed to be going his way. The only thing that stunk was his schoolwork, but even that had a positive side to it since Yuki was keeping his word to help tutor him. Before, he had no incentive. Now, he would get prizes he liked a _lot_ for doing well on his assignments and tests. One of his biggest prizes was coming up that weekend, so on Friday night he skipped going home as usual to stop over to Yuki's place. As expected there was a brand new, shiny, black BMW parked in the place where the Mercedes usually was.

"Woah… That's pretty slick. I can smell the new car smell all the way over here!" Shuichi grinned, carrying a Japanese test with a B- mark on it that would win him a ride in this new car.

He pressed the buzzer and yanked the door open as soon as he heard the lock thunk back. Then into the elevator and then up to knock on Yuki's door, holding up his test so the mark would be the first thing Yuki saw when he answered the door.

The door opened, Shuichi grinned, "Check it! I'm getting a ride in a new car tonight!"

"What the fuck is _this_?" He heard in response.

Shuichi lowered the paper a little, seeing Yuki scowling at him and wearing a head of jet-black hair. He blinked. A million things went through his head at that moment but the one thing that stuck and came out was, "You dyed your hair to match your new car??"

A wicked smile spread across Yuki's face then, "You must be, Shuichi, huh?"

"Uh, _duh_?"

"Who woulda known that bro had it in him? You're pretty cute, school boy."

Then Shuichi noticed that this person couldn't be Yuki… He was wearing some fashionably torn jeans and Yuki never wore jeans, "What the hell?? Who are _you_??"

"Finally snapped out of it, huh?" He turned and walked back into the apartment, Shuichi following him, noticing that this guy's skin was darker now that they were in better than hall lighting.

"Where's Yuki?"

"_Yuki_? Eiri's in the can. Apparently they gave him a lot of good coffee at the car dealership." He went into the living room and flopped on the sofa, picking up the remote and continuing to channel surf.

"Are you going to tell me who you are or what?"

"You sure have a little brain… I'm his brother, _stupid_."

"Yuki never mentioned having a brother…"

"Okay, you got me. I'm really him with a spray-on tan and a dye job… Chh…"

Shuichi stomped over, looking down at the guy who looked up at him… with dark brown eyes, "And colored contacts…"

"You keep looking at me like that and I'm gonna think you _want_ something." He smiled lasciviously and licked his lips.

"You're _definitely_ not Yuki…" He backed off, "Yukiii!!"

He stepped out into the hall, "What?"

Shuichi was relieved to see him, "You didn't tell me you had a brother!"

"You didn't ask." He shrugged.

"You coulda said _something_…" He frowned.

"That's my younger brother, Tatsuha." He pointed to him on the sofa and Tatsuha waved.

"Yo, hot stuff." He winked.

"Why's he talking like that??"

"He's perpetually horny… and bisexual… and he likes older men when he swings that way." Yuki said quite plainly, going over to have a cigarette and sit next to his brother.

Shuichi just stared at them where they sat side by side. They looked so strange together. Like yin and yang. Tatsuha was just a little shorter than his brother.

"Wait… _Older_ men? How old _are_ you?" He finally asked.

"16."

"Whhaaaat?? 16??" His jaw dropped.

"Yep. I'm in high school. Just like you. Want to give me a little after school activity, senpai?"

"Quit that." Yuki said, "Tatsuha grew up fast… _Too_ fast. Don't be alone with him."

"I won't…" He went around the coffee table to sit beside Yuki, away from Tatsuha, "So… I saw the car…"

"Pretty nice, huh?" He smiled.

"Yeah. It's _really_ nice. I could smell the new car smell all the way over at the building's front door… I got a good grade…" He held up his paper again.

"Well… That's really a shock. Good job, slacker."

"Thanks! So can I go for a ride with you??"

"Hey!" Tatsuha sat up from his lounging pose, "Fuck off! _I'm_ going with him!"

"No you're not! He promised me that if I got a good grade he'd take me out in the new car!"

"Screw that. Family over fuck buddies! I brought him cake! We're going out cruising for chicks!"

"Chicks?? No you're not! He's _mine_! He doesn't need any chicks!"

"Maybe he doesn't, but I do!"

"Shut… up…" Yuki muttered, stuck between them.

"Then go stand on a street corner if you want some!" Shuichi suggested.

"You're not putting that mouth of yours to good use… so why don't you get blowin' or get goin'?" Tatsuha grabbed his crotch suggestively.

"Pervert! I'm not touching you with a 100 foot pole!"

"Heh heh… _Pole_." He grinned wickedly again, "C'mon baby. Give me a little taste of the sugar that you give my bro."

"Like hell!"

Yuki had enough then, "BOTH of you… SHUT UP!" He shoved Tatsuha over sideways.

"Hey!" He protested.

"You, don't touch him. And you, don't keep yelling. You're _both _giving me a headache."

"B-But… You _said_… My _test_…" Shuichi whined.

"I know what I said… and _this_ guy showed up without an invitation because he pretended to be me and conned the dealership to tell him when my car was being delivered…" Yuki scowled at his brother.

"But I brought you cake!" Tatsuha reminded him and sat up again, grabbing a cigarette for himself.

"And tried to steal beer from my fridge… and now you're stealing my smokes… You're a _parasite_, kid…"

"I learned from the best, bro." He winked.

"Bullshit. You've improvised the whole thing so don't blame anyone else."

"Chh… Hey, how about we go show your new car to Ryu-chan." He changed his tactic.

"Sakuma-sama?" Shuichi perked up, "You know where he lives?? We can go over there??"

"No, we can't go over there. Tatsuha's banned from being within a mile of him." Yuki explained.

"Why?"

"You think he's bad with _you_? Imagine what he'd be like with Ryuichi…"

"Oh… _Ewwwww_…."

"Not 'ewww'! It would be complete _heaven_." Tatsuha nodded, "Ryuichi Sakuma is the hottest man on the face of the earth… but I'd settle for _you _as a younger substitute… You're kinda the same body type. I could use my imagination…"

"Did I mention you should _never_ be alone with him?" Yuki asked Shuichi who was just horrified by what he was hearing.

"He's really 16??" Shuichi was still in shock.

"Yes, he's really 16." Yuki sighed and shook his head.

"Be a pal, bro. Share." Tatsuha grinned.

"I'm not sharing with you."

"It's kinda funny… You like 'em younger and I like 'em older. Will the Uesugi clan have to suffer a scandal when you're caught lingering outside of school yards?"

"What, you think this is a new hobby of mine? I didn't go looking for him. He just… showed up… Very much like you, I might add… Unannounced… uninvited… and made himself right at home."

"I was kinda wondering what was up with the random clothing laying around that would no way be your style or fit you… Now I know." Tatsuha mused.

"He seems to be moving himself in, one possession at a time."

"I… didn't think you minded that I left stuff sometimes…" Shuichi worried.

"I don't. I just noticed the accumulation recently."

"Oh… Cool."

"Hey… I have an idea…" Tatsuha sat forward, tapping his ashes into the tray on the coffee table, "How about we skip the drive and have a Shuichi sandwich?"

"Ghh…" Shuichi cringed.

"How about you go take a cold shower instead of continuing to disgust us with your bright 'ideas'? You think I want to see you naked? Hell no!"

"Why not? I look almost exactly like you. What's the big deal?"

"You know, I have _enough_ issues without climbing into the sack with my underage little brother who looks nearly identical to me… I think I just threw up a little."

"Dang… I'm not _ugly_!"

"That's not the damn point, is it? Chh… When's the last train back to Kyoto?"

"Already gone. You're stuck with me, bro. Let's go for a ride! In the apartment or in the car, your choice."

"That's mighty big of you to let me choose… All right… Here's how it's going to go and if either of you complain, you're both leaving." Yuki pointed back and forth between them, "Shuichi's in the passenger seat. You're in the back. You give him any 'reach around' action, and I'll throw your ass out of the car. Get me?"

"Woah… Yeah, I get you. Apparently you _like_ this little nerd."

"Conversation _over_. Let's go." Yuki got up.

"Cool!" Shuichi got up too, "Did you like it? I mean, you got to drive it for a while today, right?"

"There's not much to hate about it, that's for sure." He smirked, slipping a hand onto Shuichi's shoulder.

"Oohh… Hey, you two could just get it on and I'll watch." Tatshua offered, leering at their contact.

"That's the _last_ thing I want to hear out of your disgusting mouth. Zip it."

"Damn, you're being an extra hard-ass, big bro."

"Probably because you're being an extra ass, little bro."

Off they went, the interesting group that they were. Tatsuha managed to keep his hands to himself while they went for a ride. However the sexual harassment continued once they were back at the apartment with takeout for dinner. Yuki was on the verge of throwing his little brother out into the street to fend for himself for the night.

"Maybe I should just go home…" Shuichi pouted, helping Yuki in the kitchen with cleaning some dishes.

"Nah… I have a lock on the bedroom door. You'll be safe."

"Oh?" His heart started thumping. Yuki was favoring him over his own brother.

"Yep. Just stay in the room and you'll be fine."

"Okay… It's really a _great_ car."

"Yeah. I'm pretty pleased."

"It was worth giving up the other cars?"

"Definitely. I owe you for pointing it out to me." Yuki nodded.

"Owe me?"

"You're the one who said I couldn't drive three cars at once."

"True, but… I didn't exactly think you'd listen to me or turn that into this…"

"Well, it gave me pause to think."

"And _shop_."

"That, too. It's a dream car, all right."

"I'm happy if you're happy."

"Oh, I'm happy."

"Good." He smiled then was surprised to be kissed, "Mmhh…"

"Heh heh… I leave you two alone for a minute and you're going at it." Tatsuha chuckled from where he was leaning in the entry to the kitchen.

The kiss broke and Shuichi scowled at the interruption, "Go sleep on the street, would you??"

"Not a chance, hot stuff." He winked.

"You'd be surprised by how much of a chance there is of that happening." Yuki growled.

"Woah… Okay! So I think I'll be hitting the sack. Which side of the bed do I get?"

"None. You get the couch. Get going. Now!"

"Yikes… You're too serious, bro…" Tatsuha disappeared down the hall.

"Chh… This was supposed to be a peaceful day." Yuki grumbled.

"Sorry. I'll try to make it up to you."

"It's not your fault, but I wouldn't object to your trying." He smirked.

"I'll do my best!" Shuichi grinned.

In the morning, Tatsuha was still there, unfortunately. He wasn't for long, though. First thing, they were all back in the car and Yuki was kicking him out at the train station, sending him back to Kyoto before taking Shuichi out for a low-key breakfast at a nearby hotel restaurant. Shuichi was excited, because it was the first time they'd intentionally gone out together anywhere other than for a walk in the park late at night when no one else was around and Yuki needed to clear his mind to work better. Shuichi figured out pretty quickly that they were there for privacy. It wasn't like a diner at all and the staff made sure to place them somewhere out of the way… but still, people were noticing. And Shuichi started to notice that Yuki was looking a bit on edge as a result.

"Are you okay?" He whispered across the table.

"Yeah… I suppose I forgot how _nosey_ people can be… and you do tend to stand out a bit, especially in a place like this."

"Sorry." He shrugged, "Good food, though."

"After dealing with my little brother, I needed something as a reward. This'll do." He had another mouthful of eggs.

Shuichi's feeling of unease at being noticed continued from that point and probably for very good reason…

* * *

**End of 'shortie' chapter 9 - Please review!**


	10. Changes

**Chapter Notes** - It's been a good while since I updated this, so I thought I'd turn my attention back to this particular fic... and also to its other half. Hope there are still some people paying attention to this even though its been a while. There's a bit more from the other players in the cast coming up including Sakano-san, K Winchester, and the whole gang from NRG - Ryu, Touma, and Norkio. Lots going on! With so much going on, I don't know if poor Shu-chan should be happy or...

**Questions from reviews** - This story goes up to the point at which the other part starts. And... "Yanno?" = "You know?".

**Please read and review :) ****  
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"Yo…"

The knock at the door startled Sakano where he sat at his office desk, "Oh, Winchester-san." The tall American was leaning in his doorway, smiling.

"Sorry to scare you."

"What can I help you with?"

"Meeting with the bleached blond jerk upstairs. You and me. Now-ish." He smiled.

"Ahh, I _do_ wish you wouldn't refer to our President that way…" He sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly as he got up, closing his laptop.

"When he stops being a dick, I'll stop calling him one." K nodded, "Let's move."

"Hai…" He stepped out into the hall and did his best to keep pace with K's long strides, "What is this meeting about?"

K shrugged, "Kinda sudden. I'm sure it can't be good, especially if _he_ called it. Sooner it's done, sooner I can have a smoke."

"Who else is attending?"

"Just you and me, as far as I know."

"How… _strange_…" He gulped, wondering what was going on and why he hadn't been invited directly… Instead K came to gather him.

"You bet. That's all that goes on in this joint though, right?" He laughed, "Don't sweat it." His big hand clapped reassuringly onto Sakano's narrow shoulder.

Up on the executive floor, they stood outside of Touma Seguchi's office, K banging on the door.

"Come…" Was called from inside.

"Here we go…" K winked at Sakano, opening the door.

Inside, the President was on the phone and looked like he didn't appreciate the loud banging, taking his time to conclude his conversation while making them wait. Sitting on the window ledge off to the right, Ryuichi Sakuma was looking out on the cityscape. He turned and smiled at the pair of them, waving a little.

"Hey." K nodded in response.

Finally Seguchi got off the phone, "Please, have a seat." He gestured toward the chairs that were neatly lined up in front of his desk, angelic smile casting its aura around the room.

Sakano sat down, fidgeting. K thunked down casually beside him.

"So what's up?" K asked.

"We are here to discuss some changes that will effect both of you."

"Super. Lay it on us."

"I have been reviewing the 'Bad Luck' project… and I don't like what I'm seeing… or rather, what I'm not seeing, which is progress."

"S… Shacho… It has only been just over a _month_ and—" Sakano tried to explain.

"And there hasn't been any movement on them other than a small show at which you had them open for Ask… Sakano-san, you were entrusted with this project. I expected more of you than this."

"_Touuumaaa_…" Ryu whined at him from his seat at the window and Seguchi softened in response.

Sakano's heart was nearly beating out of his chest, terrified of being fired.

"Well…" Seguchi huffed, "Since there are some people who would prefer _not_ to drop this act, we're going to work a little harder to bring them up to where they _should_ be in our lineup. To that end, Winchester-san will become the band's manager. Sakano-san, you will be producer. I expect that you will use your talents accordingly and work together with Winchester-san to pull things together."

"B-but-"

"We will also be bringing in a keyboard player so that young Shindou-san can concentrate on his composition."

"Now, _wait_ a minute… Why am I being brought into this?" K sat up, annoyed.

"Because-"

"I asked if you could do it." Ryuichi hurriedly finished Touma's barely-begun sentence, "So… _could_ you? I really think that you and Sakano-san can do a _great_ job together."

"You _serious_, Ryu?" K chuckled.

"Umm hmm." He nodded, "Do it for _me_?" He clasped his hands, "Please?"

"Tch… For you, sure. I'll put lipstick on this pig, no doubt." He gave Ryu the thumbs up.

"Yay! Sakano-san, please do your best, too." Ryu smiled at him, "I'm counting on you."

"Y-yes, Owner-sama…"

"We'll talk more later. For now, get back to work." Seguchi told them, an angry look undercutting his sweet smile and directed almost entirely at K who returned it without any sweetness to dress it up.

"You bet." K got up, "Come on, Sakano."

"H-hai…"

Sakano stumbled out of the office with K who noticed his condition and brought him into his own office to sit down for a minute.

"Hey…" He gave the horrified man a glass of water, "Drink."

He took the glass with shaking hands and drank for a while, handing back the glass at last, "I _failed_… I failed _completely_."

"Nah… I suspect that that little prick has been just _waiting_ for a reason to do this… but he really wanted to kick that band out of house. Ryu saved their asses. No doubt about it." He nodded, huffing his anger, "Damn, I _hate_ that guy."

"I _asked_ for this project. My first job as a band manager! And I've already failed!"

"Now, that just isn't true. He's putting a two-kid high school band up against our regular standards. It's going to take _time_ to get these guys going. Not a damn _month_. Calm down."

"I… I _can't_!"

K sighed and bent down, giving the guy a hug, "There there, little guy… We'll work it out, you and me. Right?"

"I don't know!"

"Yeah, we will. I'm not going to let that smarmy little bastard one-up me, for one thing. Hey… Hey…" He let go, patting Sakano's damp cheek to focus his attention, "Look at me. We're a team now, you and me. So let's do that Japanese type thing and do our best for the company, right?"

Sakano sniffled and nodded.

"Or at least for Ryu… So tell me… Does this brat-band really have something?"

"_Hai_, Winchester-san. Shindou-kun's voice is _incredible_. His composition is exceptionally good for his age. He has great spirit and is a natural performer that the crowd connects with. Nakano-kun is _very_ talented with the guitar and bass. You can tell that he truly loves to play what his partner has written. They have confidence in one another and support one another, which comes through in their performances. I think that's very important for long term success."

"Sounds good. You'll show me everything you've got on them."

"Right away." He nodded, "Do you _really_ think we can do this?"

"If you have confidence in them, so do I."

"T-_thank_ you, Winchester-san." He bowed his head.

"Besides, it seems like Ryu does, too… so we better get our asses in gear." He chuckled as there came a knock at the door, "Come on in… Speak of the devil." He winked at Ryu as he came in.

"Hi hi… Sorry to interrupt. I'm glad you're both here… Oh! Are you okay, Sakano-san?"

"Hai, Owner-sama. I'm so _sorry_ I have done so poorly..." He hung his head again.

"You've done just fine. Touma-chan and I just had a _little_ argument today is all." He sighed and sat on the desk, "And you got caught up in it. So I'm sorry, too." He clapped his hands together and bowed his head to Sakano who was still as white as a sheet from stress.

"You… shouldn't apologize to _me_."

"But I already did!" He lifted his head and smiled again.

"So this is pretty important to you, huh?" K asked him.

"Yep. Very _very_."

"Then what's Touma got his panties in a bunch about?" He crossed his arms.

"Oh… It's a _long_ story… but I want to make sure that they have a chance to really shine. I think they have _huge_ potential. And I know that Sakano-san has a lot of talent that we have yet to put to good use! You'll be an _incredible_ producer, I just _know_ it."

"Thank you, sir." His trembling subsided at last from the warm praise being directed at him by the owner of the company. At least if Ryuichi was supporting him, there was no way that he'd lose his job.

"So… you got someone in mind for keyboards?" K wondered.

"Yep. At least until I get the one that will be permanent." He winked, "Trust me."

"They won't like it…" Sakano sighed, "They were _very_ adamant about it being just the two of them in the band."

"Don't worry. The person I have in mind they wouldn't _possibly_ object to! Besides, we're friends so… there's no way they'd say no to me!" He giggled, "Right?"

"I can't imagine they would, really." K smirked.

"I have some ideas so let's talk! Something to drink first…"

"I'll make some tea." Sakano offered.

"Oh, good. I _love_ your tea!" Ryu clapped.

"Excuse me then. I'll be right back." He got up and hurried out of the office.

"Anything you want to share with me in private?" K asked.

He shrugged, "It's just important to me. That's all. I honestly believe that you two will be the best team for this band. You did so much for NRG. You've done so much for me, as a solo artist. I wouldn't trust anyone else."

"You'll get my best." He nodded.

"I know…and none of these plans go back to the band or to Touma-chan without my involvement. Okay?"

"Shit, if you want to run interference with him, I'm not going to bitch. You know how much I like that guy." He laughed, "You can have as much Seguchi as you want."

"Be nice, now. You know he's my friend!"

"I know. I've _always_ known. Doesn't mean I get it or that I ever will."

"I think he feels the same way about my friendship with you!" He laughed back.

"Yeah, yeah… To each their own… Let's get these guys famous." He smiled as Sakano made his way back into the room with a tray of tea things.

"Yay! Famous band and delicious tea! It's the best day ever."

* * *

Shuichi was starting to settle into his routine of school and studio and then trying to find time for Yuki who was still managing to tutor him effectively. He had actually gotten a B+ grade on a test, which was unheard of. His mother almost fainted from shock at seeing it. It seemed that in spite of his previous school record, he was going to be able to graduate after all, so his family was very understanding of his late hours with his 'tutor' and let him come and go as he pleased without question. That helped to expand his dose of Yuki.

The studio had them booked to perform their new single on an entertainment TV show along with a few other up-and-coming acts from NRG. He was psyched. Everything was going amazingly well with his musical future.

"I can't believe we're going to be on TV." Hiro smiled, "It's almost crazier than you getting a B+. _Almost_..."

"Shut it. I'm doing my best. I have to graduate!"

"I've never seen you so dedicated."

"I have plenty of reason to be." He nodded and then they ran into some guys from another band, coming toward them down the hall.

"Well… Lookie _here_. It's the 'Sad Fuck' boys." Their lead singer mocked.

"Jeeze… What's _your_ damage?" Shuichi frowned. These guys had been giving them the eye from a distance for a while. Especially this dude who'd even been a dick enough to trip Shuichi when he had come off the stage after he and Hiro had opened for these clowns.

"I just don't like it when _pathetic_ little high school boys ride in on our coat tails."

"Huh?"

"Don't pretend like you don't _know_. The only reason _you_ got noticed was because you opened for _us_, loser."

"Uh… You're in a _band_?" He rubbed his head, pretending to think hard about it while Hiro snickered, egging him on.

"Don't fuck around, ass wipe!"

"Taki, calm _down_, guy." The long haired, dyed blond one chuckled and patted his shoulder, "They're just kids."

"Yeah, an old guy like _you_ might have a heart attack if you don't calm down." Shuichi smiled.

"You little _fuck_… I'm gonna kick your _ass_!" Taki started to come at him, being grabbed and held on to by his band members.

"Woah! Slow down, Taki!" The blond laughed.

Shuichi and Hiro just took a couple steps back to keep out of range.

"Hi! Hey, Shuichi!"

They all stopped, looking to see that Ryuichi Sakuma had rounded the corner and come into the hall with them, likely on his way to his own studio along with his ever-present, extra tall, scary blond American... who was now their new manager according to the meeting they'd just attended. Everyone bowed to him as he came over, giving up on their fight immediately.

"Aw, _man_… Quit that, you guys!" Ryu laughed, turning his attention to Shuichi and Hiro, "Hey! You're gonna be on the New Music show, huh? That's so cool!" He gave Shuichi's shoulder a friendly shove, shaking him out of his idol-induced stupor.

"Yeah, it's kinda freaky, actually. I never thought we'd be on TV. Heh heh..."

"You'll get used to it… No lie."

"Sakuma-sama. Your interview on Hit Stage was _awesome_." Taki said to him shakily.

"Oh… Hi… Umm… Thanks… Who are you?" Ryu peered at the group of three.

"We're the band 'Ask', sir. We're going to be on New Music, too."

"Cool… Hey, Shuichi! Come on up to my studio! I wanna show you something!" He put Shuichi into a friendly headlock suddenly.

"Uh, what?"

"Uh, you'll see. Come on! Don't you like surprises?" He proceeded to drag Shuichi off down the hall with him. Hiro followed along quickly, not wanting to miss this for anything and flipping off Taki and gang with a happy smile as they went by.

"Sure, I like surprises. Who doesn't?"

"Then you're gonna _totally_ lose it for this one. Don't struggle. You are my prisoner!"

"Ryu, we _really_ don't have time for this…" K grumbled behind them.

"_Sure_ we do. Nothing but time! You're no fun, K."

"Depends on your definition, really."

They went up in the executive elevator. At the door to his own studio, Ryu used one of the dog tags on his necklace to unlock the door, swinging it in front of the raised security panels Shuichi had seen all over the building. The lock thunked back obediently and Ryu pushed open the door.

"Come on in!" He cheered.

Shuichi and Hiro stopped just inside the entry, in awe of what was more like a luxury hotel suite overlooking the city.

"Now _this_ is a _studio_… on crack." Hiro grinned.

"You like it?" Ryu smiled back at them.

"Dude, who _wouldn't_… I mean, Sakuma-sama." Hiro corrected himself and bowed again slightly.

"It's cool. You can call me 'dude'. Or 'Ryu' or whatever... Check it out!" He wandered away over to a seating area, complete with a huge TV, picking up game case which he tossed to Shuichi.

"Gaa!! It's GranTurismo! Another pre-release! I'm going to faint…"

"Don't do _that_! You like to race?"

"Of _course_ I do! You'd have to be _stupid_ not to love racing!"

"Right on! You just called Eiri-kun stupid. He _hates_ racing games." He laughed.

"Oh… Well, then he's stupid at least in this respect. No one's perfect."

Hiro gaped at the box along with him, "It even _smells_ awesome…"

"What do you say? Want to kill some time and play with me?"

"Absolutely." Shuichi nodded.

"_Ryu_…" K warned.

"Aww… Get invisible, K. I just want to screw around for a while." He waved his hands, trying to shoo the big guy away.

"Fine… Call if you need me."

"You bet. Come on guys. Let's _do_ this."

In a few hours Sakano showed up, checking in on Ryuichi's needs. He stopped short, shocked to be seeing Shuichi and Hiro there on the couch with the owner. He had thought they had long since gone home for the day.

"Sa-Sakuma-sama… Can I get you anything?"

"Nah, we're good. Can you get me a car in like an hour? I think I'm gonna head home."

"Of course, sir… How did _you_ two end up here?" He raised an eyebrow at them.

"Sakuma-sama kidnapped us." Shuichi blamed the god of the building, hoping that Sakano wouldn't try and have them fired for violating a rule.

"You guys are _great_ kidnap victims, too. I'm gonna kidnap you a _bunch_ from now on."

"I won't struggle." Hiro smiled and smashed his car right into Shuichi's.

"Ahhh!! I'm _so_ gonna get you."

"Big talk, little man. Catch me if you can!"

"If you're sure there's nothing you need, sir." Sakano continued to press.

"Nope. You can go."

"I will let you know when the car is here." He bowed and left.

Shuichi's phone rang then. Ryu picked it up before he could, smiling at recognizing the name and answering in English.

"Helloooooo? Hi, Eiri-kun! I've kidnapped Shu-chan and Hiroshi-kun. We're playing video games. Whatcha doing? … Uh _huh_… Shuichi said you're _stupid_."

"Don't tell him _that_!" Shuichi gasped.

"Well, because you hate racing games… Yeah… GranTurismo. It's da bomb. Wanna go shoot some pool this weekend? Does Shu-chan play pool?"

"I never tried." Shuichi replied before running Hiro off the track in retaliation.

"No worries! I'll teach you how to play!… Eiri, don't say _maybe_. You're being an old fart… I'm leaving in an hour so I'll drop Shu-chan off at your place if he's cool with that… Awesome. Okay… Hold on…" He waited until the game was over and gave Shuichi the phone, taking a turn against Hiro himself while Shuichi moved away to have some privacy.

"Hi…"

"Getting cozy with your idol after all, huh?" Eiri's voice contained a smirk. Shuichi could sense it.

"Yeah. He seems to have some idea about things… Did you _say_ something?"

"No… I think he's just done the not-so-obvious math. Don't let him fool you. He's rather observant."

"Are you umm… _worried_?"

"No. You shouldn't be either… An hour, hm?"

"Yeah."

"Did you eat anything for dinner?"

"We had a little to eat at the commissary earlier."

"If you're still hungry there's leftovers here."

"Thanks, that's great. I'll see you soon!" He smiled, heart thumping at the invitation.

"Later."

"Bye."

"I'm gonna _puuuuke_." Hiro made a face, still focused on the game over on the couch.

"Shut _up_." He went back and shoved Hiro, giving Ryu an edge in the race.

"Hey! You jerk!"

"It's all fair."

They shared a studio limo with Ryu after the gaming was over, heading out into the city that they had been enjoying the view of from his massive studio windows. Hiro was half asleep when they dropped him off, yawning and leaning back into the car.

"Don't get too worn out tonight, Shu. See you tomorrow." He winked, "Thanks loads for the gaming, Sakuma-sama!"

"No problem. You rock, Hiroshi!"

"Later."

The door shut, leaving Shuichi alone with Ryuichi in the back of the limo.

"So, those guys from Ask were giving you a hard time, huh?" Ryu asked him.

He was shocked at the serious tone from out of the blue, "Well.. Umm… A bit. Just talk really. No big deal."

"Only that it's a big deal that it stinks to have people angry with their studio-mates. Makes for an uncomfortable environment."

Suddenly he realized he was in the car with another part of Ryuichi Sakuma… His serious stage side.

"I guess… I'm still in high school though so I'm used to that sorta smack talk."

"They're _not_ still in high school though. They've been on the club circuit for a couple years now." He absently turned one of the four silver wire hoops in his ear, looking rather thoughtful, "I hope they grow out of it soon."

"I'm probably partly to blame. They picked on us and I picked back a bit, just playing dumb about not knowing who they were. That pissed Taki off a _lot_." He smirked.

"They started it."

"True. Sorry, though..."

He shrugged, "Everyone's in this business for their own reasons. I suppose they'll have to figure out if it's for the music or for the fame. It'll all come out sooner or later on stage in how people react to them… I have a question for you."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Would you… mind if I was on the New Music program?"

"Huh? _Mind_? Why would I ever _mind_? Do you mean that you're gonna sing? Because that would be _super_ cool. It's been ages since I heard you sing in the flesh."

"Yeah. I really miss singing… I asked K if he'd arrange it with the station. It's going to be a bit of a surprise appearance… Since I've been back from the USA everyone wants to interview me about everything in the world. Me, I just want to _sing_. Not talk about it so much."

"I know how that feels." He nodded.

"So… you and Hiro know any of the NRG tunes?"

"Of course. _All_ of them. Your solo work, too. I mean, we don't play half as well as Ukai-san and Seguchi-san, but it's fun to pretend!" He smiled.

"Playing NRG for fun, huh?" Ryu's warm smile made Shuichi relax again.

"Totally."

"Then, you'll be my band?"

"Ya _whuu_??" His jaw dropped.

"Was that Japanese?" Ryu laughed.

"You want us to be your band?? On New Music?"

"Sure. Hiroshi has some good licks. He can definitely cover the synthed guitar with a real guitar. You've got your own skills with the keyboards and I think you can manage to be a backup singer too… though not nearly as cute as Noriko-chan! Please don't wear a dress." He clapped his hands in prayer and bowed his head.

"No _way_. I don't have the legs for it."

"No doubt."

"What song do you want to sing?"

"Mmm… I was thinking maybe… '_Through and Through'_."

"Oh, wow… That would be _amazing_."

"I'll trust you guys to put it together. I just want to hear it once before we go on live, how you'll play it."

"You mean you don't want to actually rehearse?"

"Nah. I just need to get a feel for your way. You'll see… I _really_ appreciate this."

"Holy shit! Don't even come near to _thanking_ me or Hiro! This is like a gift from the gods! It's going to be so much fun! I think I'm going to cry!"

"Don't do that! I'll start too and then we'll drown back here!" He took Shuichi by the shoulders, shaking dramatically until he spied something out the window, "Oh, hey! Stop the car a second!"

The driver pulled over.

"Shu-chan… I have another _huge_ favor to ask you." He clasped his hands in prayer.

"Sure. What is it?"

"_Donuts_… I could kill for some fresh donuts." He pointed out the window of the limo, "And I can't exactly go in and get them myself… Sugar is my number one weakness."

"You got it. Be right back!" He went for the door.

"Wait! I've got cash!"

"Screw that. I think I owe you enough karma cash already!" He laughed and shut the door, dodging traffic to cross the road. He had gotten plenty of donuts there on the way to see Yuki, who also had a sweet tooth.

_There's a price to fame… What are you going to do when your face won't let you go out in public?_

Those were Yuki's words and this was their reality. Ryuichi Sakuma couldn't even just go out and grab some donuts. He thought about that a lot while he was making his purchase, savoring the experience in a whole new way, remembering to get chocolate for Yuki and hurrying back to the limo.

"You're in luck. They had some hot ones." He handed over a bag as he closed the door.

"_Gaaah_… You're my _hero_, Shuichi." He grinned and they dug in as the car carried on.

"So… Does it suck? Not to be able to go get donuts because of who you are?"

"It _half_ sucks." He nodded, "There's people to do things for you, but sometimes you just wanna do for yourself. The little things. That's what I miss. Donut runs, hanging out in diners with friends… Enjoy it while you can."

"Yuki said that to me, too… I _never_ thought of that. I never think ahead." He sighed, licking sugar off his fingers.

"Neither do I. And then suddenly, here I am… Eiri-kun will be a good mentor for you. He's pretty smart, that guy. Serious though… He needs to have more time out of his cell. Make sure he gets some air, huh? He's turning into such an old man and he's younger than I am!"

"Yeah… Well… I agree he should get out more. He works too hard."

"There's more to life than work, even if you _do_ love it." The limo slowed down at last and pulled over, "You're home!… We'll talk more soon about _lots_ of stuff… Hey. Thanks for _everything_." He gave Shuichi a wink as the car pulled up to the curb.

"Same here… Good night!" He piled out of the car with his backpack and watched the limo pull away, "Wow… How cool was _that_?" He smiled and let himself inside using the spare key that he had been lent, finding Yuki on the sofa with the paper.

"Hey, what've you got there?"

"Yuki treats!" He put the bag down on the coffee table, "Don't eat too many before bed. You won't sleep."

Shuichi bent and smooched his forehead, going off to wash and change, comfortable with his new routine. He'd been telling his parents he was living at Hiro's place as a cover… but at the moment he was pretty much freeloading at Yuki's place non-stop. He'd badgered Yuki into giving him a spare key, surprised when it was given with a relatively minor amount of grief. Yuki liked to remind him that it in no way meant that he officially lived there and Shuichi just smiled and nodded, happy enough to have a shiny new key that told him otherwise.

Showered, he returned to the living room, settling in with Yuki and getting sugar tasting kisses.

"You have fun with Ryu?"

"Yeah… And I learned a lot too." He played with strands of Yuki's golden hair, "You're right. About the fame thing. I totally will appreciate even going to get you donuts from now on."

"Good for you. So will I. These are pretty good."

"You can actually thank Sakuma-san for them. He had a craving and I just acted as his delivery service. It was cool… Eating donuts in the back of a limo with my hero. I never could have imagined…"

"There's a lot of stuff like that in life."

"Sure is… Seems like they're really working hard to push us. The studio that is. We've got a TV spot on a hot music show and today we got told that we have a new manager. The big scary American guy that was Sakuma's manager."

"Oh? That's impressive, even though that guy's an utter asshole..."

"He seems… _loud_. But if he was NRG's manager and Sakuma-san's manager, it's not like I'm gonna complain, right? That's pretty huge! And get this! Sakuma-san wants us to act as his band on the TV show so he can sing one of his old tunes…" His eyes were huge and Yuki couldn't help laughing at his expression, "It's all of my dreams coming true at once… I'm not sure how I'm staying conscious right now."

"Maybe you're just tired so it's not sinking in." He ruffled Shuichi's hair affectionately, "Why don't you quit talking about another guy when you're here with me? You're going to make me jealous."

Shuichi blinked, "Huh?" And then he smiled because Yuki was being pretty nice that night, even being patient enough to listen to him, "Number one, it's not like I'm talking about Sakuma-san like _that_… and number two… _you_, get _jealous_? I doubt it…" He leaned in, taking a sniff of Yuki's collar and scowling, "Third… is _perfume_… You smell like some _chick_ you were rubbing up against."

"Sachi Morimoto isn't a _chick_. She's a demon, out to kill me. There's a big difference."

"Morimoto-san wears perfume that strong?"

"She said something about spilling it on herself and even after a shower it wouldn't come off her… I stopped listening after that." He pulled Shuichi close, "Come on, brat… Give me a reason to let you stay tonight."

"You're in an interesting mood. Writer's block?"

"Yeah, so shut up and inspire me, huh?"

"Okay! But go easy on me for a change, would ya??"

"What fun would that be?"

Even after the romp, it seemed that Yuki was still not in the mood to get back to his writing. When Shuichi woke up, he found him sitting back out on the sofa in the dark having a cigarette and staring out the window at the city lights. He looked a little listless, the way he was sitting there.

"You okay?" Shuichi asked, leaning in the entryway to the living area.

"Hm? Yeah… I guess."

"Still blocked?"

"Seems so." He plucked the cigarette out of his mouth, exhaling a stream of moonlit smoke into the room.

"Wanna take a walk in the park? That helps, right?"

"Sounds like a plan. You up to it?"

"Sure. Let's go."

He pulled his outer t-shirt on and urged Yuki to join him. Soon they were wandering in the hillside park near the apartment. It was a pretty nice night out, a little breezy. Summer was around the bend and among many other things, Shuichi had one big one that was on his mind at the moment.

"So… Uh… Graduation is coming up soon."

"Un…"

"I'm actually gonna graduate. Who woulda thought?" He laughed hesitantly. Yuki really had clamed up from his previous good mood, "Guess I owe all the credit for that to my extra special tutor, right?" No response came back. Yuki seemed miles away, but that had never stopped Shuichi from trying to pull him back with chatter. "My folks are actually going to spend some cash on going out to dinner at a nice place to celebrate. I guess they figure that since they're saving a load by my not going to college, they might as well do something cool for my high school graduation. Heh heh…" He coughed, clearing his throat in preparation, "So… I was wondering… if you'd come to my graduation… since you're pretty much responsible for it happening at all. How about it?"

Yuki stopped walking at the railing overlooking the view of the city, turning back toward Shuichi while leaning against it, looking at him lazily. He really did make a pretty picture standing there, looking model-perfect with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth and the breeze ruffling his mostly-grown-back hairstyle. Shuichi gulped.

"So…?" He pressed on.

"You know I can't do that."

"Wh… Why not?"

"Because… people are already starting to notice."

"Notice?"

"You… around me."

"R… Really?"

He nodded slowly, giving Shuichi a rather hollow look. Shuichi was a little used to this, since it seemed that more often than not, Yuki tended to 'change' after they had any kind of intimacy. Maybe this wasn't the best time to ask, but since everything else had been going his way he had pushed his luck.

"Really."

"How?"

"Apparently a rumor started after we went out to breakfast. No pictures got out… but to have my publicity people asking me questions means that the rumor is pretty solidly out there."

"Oh…" He gulped again.

"So… how do you think it'd go over if I showed up to your graduation? I bet there'd be a lot of questions and a lot of pictures… It was bad enough when I showed up solo for the Spring Arts Festival. That probably fueled the rumors more."

"Sorry?"

"It's not your fault. I brought this on myself… I don't know what I was thinking, saying things on public TV that implied…" He stopped mid sentence. "It just raised questions. Everyone wanted to know who I might be involved with, if anyone. So everyone was watching more than usual… and only seeing some unknown boy in a school uniform hanging out. Apparently if you were a cosplaying _girl_ in a boy's school uniform, that'd be different." He smirked, bringing the cigarette to his lips for another drag, "Gotta love Japanese pop culture."

"Yeah, I guess… So… what does this all mean?"

"This means you need to stop spending so much time around here and actually live at Hiro's place, like you've been telling your family you are."

"B-But… I don't _wanna_…" He whined, heart breaking.

"Whether you 'wanna' or not… you have to. I need to figure out what to do about this. With you getting on stage and now on TV, it's only a matter of a short amount of time before the unknown school boy has a _name_… Touma's got a good point on that…" He huffed.

"Seguchi-san? What's _he_ got to do with it?"

"Chh… Never mind…" He scowled.

"Yuki… I'll just pass on the TV show is all. No big deal. Then we won't have to stop spending time together."

"Is that _all_ your dreams mean to you? You're just going to piss on your own future? Don't be so weak willed." He sneered.

"It's not like that! I'll just wait for a while…"

"There is no 'wait for a while'. You want to disappoint your hero, Ryuichi Sakuma? That'd be damn stupid when he's opening the door to success for you. Don't fuck it up, kid. Not everyone gets a chance like this."

"I… I don't care about it if I can't be with you…"

Yuki came stomping toward him suddenly, shoving him back hard enough that he almost fell over, "Don't be _stupid_… Grow up! Go sleep at Hiro's place."

"_Tonight_?"

"Yes, _tonight_. Get lost. Don't follow me!" He turned abruptly and stomped away, leaving Shuichi in a completely different emotional place than he had been at the start of the day.

* * *

The next day, Hiroshi was coming back into his apartment building with a bag of takeout when he met up with one of his neighbors.

"Yo, Hiro."

"Shige… How's it going, man?"

"Pretty good. Got a new job at last so I'm going to be able to make the rent." He smiled and handed Hiro a couple of envelopes, "Mailman gave me your mail again."

"Seriously? The dude's not even _trying_…" He laughed.

"I guess it's just easier to make us sort the mail, huh?" He agreed, "Hey… I was wondering…"

"What's up?"

"Your little buddy with the wild hair that comes by. What's his name?"

"Shindou Shuichi."

"Yeah, that's the guy. The hyperactive one." He nodded, handing Hiro a paper open to an out of the way article with a picture, "I know you guys are in a band, but you already know some famous people?"

Hiro cringed at seeing a photo of Shuichi wandering along beside Yuki in a park.

"Yeah, we do know a few, actually. It's hard not to in that business." He smiled and handed it back, trying to act casual about it.

"Cool, man. Maybe some day you'll be able to get me some autographs!"

"Maybe you can have mine when I'm super famous!"

"Good luck with that. See ya!"

"Later."

He hurried into his apartment to tell Shuichi what he'd just seen. They were starting to be noticed together. While the reporter didn't know Shuichi's name, it was only a matter of time before they found out. That couldn't be good, and it definitely explained why Shuichi had shown up sleeping on his living area floor when Hiro had woken up in the morning. He had been un-wakeable so Hiro had just gone out to get some food for when he did finally come around. Now he was sitting on the floor in about the same place with the blanket pulled over his head, looking miserable.

"Morning, sunshine." He smiled and crouched down, patting his blanketed head. "You okay?"

"No…" He grumbled.

"Yuki issues, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Neighbor just showed me a picture of you two crazy kids in the paper. People are apparently beginning to wonder just who you are that you're hanging out with Eiri Yuki."

"Aaaahhhh…" Shuichi flopped over onto the floor, "Please tell me you're kidding…"

"Sorry. It's the truth."

"No wonder he was so mad…"

"I've got food. That'll help make things better." He grabbed one of the bags and pulled it over, popping a container open to attempt to hand-feed his lifeless friend, "Come on…"

"Mwaaa…" He finally chomped it out of Hiro's hand, "Thanks…"

"It really was only a matter of time, you know. I'm surprised it took this long."

"He told me to stay away. He has to figure out what to do."

"Then you better stay away, for his good _and_ yours."

"But I don't wanna…" He pouted.

"Well, sometimes you just gotta man-up and do what you gotta, even if you don't want to. So, welcome to Hiro's hotel, little man. Camp out until it blows over."

"You sure?"

"Not like I didn't expect it." He shrugged, "And I haven't exactly been bringing loads of girls back here, so no big deal." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm shocked…"

"Eh… It's weird, but even when I've been hanging out with some of our school friends and chicks they bring, I'm just not interested in flirting with dippy girls. Seems like a waste of energy right now."

"Maybe you should just go get married, old man." He managed to smile.

"Jerk. I didn't say I was giving up _completely_… I just want a little more than messing around. You know? Something that _means_ something."

"I know how that feels…" He sighed, "I miss Yukiiiii… Waaaaahhh."

"Oh, boy… Hey, shut up and eat. It's gonna get cold."

Ever so slowly, Shuichi started to perk up and related the details of Ryu's private talk with him in the back of the limo and everything else.

"Woah… Yeah. That's _sweet_. Feels like we're living in a dream world, doesn't it? Playing video games with Ryuichi Sakuma in his studio, getting rides home from him in the back of a limo… going to be on TV with him as his backup band…"

"Yeah…"

"But you want to tell him that we want to pass up the TV spot… so you can stay anonymous longer just so you can hang with Eiri Yuki?"

He nodded, biting his lip, "It's just for a little while."

"You know, even _you_ sound like you don't believe you when you say that." He laughed, patting Shuichi's head, "Look… I just met that guy once and to me, he seemed like a tragic dick. The kinda guy that just can't help it. That's just the way he is." He shrugged, "You're so star struck by him that you're gonna let him outshine Ryuichi Sakuma in your life?"

"It's not _like_ that. I just like Yuki. It's not the 'star factor' or anything even close to that."

"Well, in this case I have to side with the dick. Yuki-san's _right_. You're stupid to even _think_ of turning down this opportunity which is being handed to you on a silver freaking platter without your even asking for it. Being on a TV spot with Ryuichi Sakuma, singing with him, playing with him live, having his manager as our manager now… Do you _know_ how many bands would kill to be in our position right now?"

"But if I do… the media will know who I am and then I can't hang out with Yuki…"

"From the sounds of it, you can't anyway, right now. The media is already watching him like a hawk… Shuichi… You're gonna graduate and this is supposed to be your future. Your dream career. If you're telling me you're ready to quit before we even really get started, I need to know now so I can get into a college and do what I need to do for my own future."

"Hiro…" Shuichi gasped.

"It's true. This is all I was hoping to do, you know? If you tell me it's off, then I need to figure out something else to do with my life. I'm not going to just join another band. I mean, I love music but… I was planning on making it my career with _you _because I believe in you. Because I want to play with _you_..." He shrugged.

"I didn't think of that… I'm sorry." He hung his head, feeling even worse.

"So, what's it gonna be? Break it to me gently if Yuki-san's more important than your dreams of music." Hiro gave him a halfhearted smirk.

"It's not _that_… He's important to me, but so's this. It's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember." He sighed, "I guess Yuki is right, after all. It really _would_ be stupid to pass this up."

"In his own way, maybe Yuki-san's trying to do what's best for you. Try looking at it that way. He's been at this whole fame thing for a while now."

"Yeah." He lifted his head with a smile, "I'll look at it that way… Let's do this. Let's rock that TV show so hard that no one even _notices_ that Ask is on it, too."

"That's the spirit! Let's snuggle!" He pounced on Shuichi, tickling him and glad to hear him start to laugh, "Who's gonna be a famous singer and song writer? Huh?? Who?? Say it!"

"Me! I'm gonna!" He urged out between fits of laughter.

"Louder!"

"Me! I'm gonna rock the world!!" He shrieked so loud that it made Hiro's ears hurt.

"That's the stuff. And I'm gonna be one of the _hottest_ guitarists on the face of the earth. You know it."

"Hee hee… Loads of dippy chicks will be all _over_ you!"

"That sounds somewhat appealing." He chuckled, giving Shuichi a punch in the arm where he was laying on the floor.

"Ow!" He laughed and kicked him in retaliation. "Oh, Nakano-san! You're soooo handsome and cool! Giggle! Let's go karaoke! Will you autograph my boobies?" He pushed his flat chest together and batted his eyelashes.

"Eww… The visual just isn't doing it for me. You really do make an ugly girl."

"You're mean! And heavy! Get off me!" He struggled.

Hiro's cell phone rang then and he got off his victim at last, grabbing it, "Nakano here… Aa, hai… Yes, he's here. We'll be there." He closed the phone, "Lets get showered up. We've got things to do."

"What?"

"We're expected at the studio in two hours to rehearse… and for a surprise from Sakuma-sama, according to Sakano-san."

"Oh, wow." He sat up, "Okay. Looks like our future's calling us. Better clean up and answer."

"Right on. Since you're being such a good boy, Uncle Hiro will let you wash his back for him." He winked.

"_Gross_…"

At the studio again, they were immediately met by their manager-turned-producer, Sakano-san.

"Good morning." He nodded, "Come with me."

"What's going on?" Hiro asked.

"With the TV spot coming up so quickly, and Sakuma-sama taking such a… _personal_ interest, we thought we should get right to work to prepare. Since this is a somewhat secret matter, please wait for a moment."

Hiro gave Shuichi a look, wondering if there was something that he'd left out when they were talking about this before. He just looked back and shrugged as they got into the elevator.

"What's so secret?" Hiro asked when the doors shut.

"Mostly that Sakuma-sama will be appearing as a surprise guest. You are not to tell _anyone_."

"Sure. We figured that much."

"This is a _very_ big deal since he hasn't sung publicly in a long time. I do hope you appreciate that fact."

"Definitely." Shuichi nodded, "I can hardly wait to hear him."

"Un… I feel the same way." Sakano surprised them by agreeing, "Also, it is well known that '_Through and Through_' is meant to be played by two keyboardists. So we have brought in someone for this task. Sakuma-sama felt it best if you were to have time to practice with this person for a while before the show."

"Oh… Really?"

"Yes. Please be respectful."

"Sure we will."

At last Sakano-san opened the door to their studio, letting them in. Inside manager K was standing and talking to Noriko Ukai, former keyboardist of NRG.

"No… _way_…" Hiro grinned. Shuichi's jaw was already on the floor.

"Ukai-sama… Please meet Shindou Shuichi and Nakano Hiroshi." Sakano introduced them and they bowed.

"Pleased to meet you!" They said in stereo.

"Wow, they're really young." Ukai said with a laugh and they stood up, "So, you're the two that Ryu-chan is so fond of, hmm?"

"Go easy on them, Noriko." K chuckled, "Boys, we managed to dig up someone to play the other set of keyboards for Ryu's number on the New Music show. Sorry, she's the best we could do short notice, but try your best to work with her. She's probably real rusty."

"K, you dick." Norkio kicked him in the butt.

"_Ow_, you harpy. Quit it." He snickered.

"Is this for real?" Shuichi asked, feeling even more dazed.

"Oh, it's for real. You don't think I'd come out of retirement for just showing up here to screw with you boys, do you?" She hopped off the table she'd been sitting on and wandered over to them, looking them up and down, "And you really _are_ boys. How cute. I like the hair on this one." She pointed at Shuichi, "Are they any good?" She looked over her shoulder back at K.

"You think Ryu'd get you out here if he thought they sucked?"

"You have a point." She sighed, "Okay. Which one of you plays keyboards?"

"M… Me." Shuichi gulped.

"You know any of our old tunes?"

"Sure. All of them."

"I mean to _play_… not just singing in the shower."

"I… I know… Yeah. All of them." He nodded.

"Then lets hear it, boys. Let's not make Ryu-chan look like an idiot on his big singing re-debut, huh? Cuz if you do, I'll kick _both_ your asses!" She waved a fist at them.

"Yikes!"

"That's our sweet little Noriko." K chuckled.

"Shut up, K."

As cute as she looked, Noriko Ukai turned out to be harsher than any drill sergeant and they were both exhausted by the end of the day so when Ryu showed up they were too beat to even really care.

"Noriiiii!" Ryu hugged her tightly and she squealed, "You're so cute today!"

"Ryu-chan! How are you, baby?" She smooched him.

"I'm really good. Totally looking forward to playing with you again."

"And _these_ clowns?" She looked their way where they were slumped at the table.

"Oh… You wore them out! Hi, guys!" He smiled.

Hiro managed to raise a hand to acknowledge his presence.

"Awww…" Ryu let her go and went to the table, rubbing Hiro's shoulders, "Are you guys _okay_? Was she too mean to you?"

"That feels _real _good, man…" Hiro sighed.

"Gosh, I'm _really_ sorry. Nori-chan… you said you'd be _nice_!"

"I _was_ nice. That was me being nice!" She huffed, "They have to be good enough to play with you. I'm not going to half-ass this!"

"I know, but don't _hurt_ them! They can't play if they're in _pain_!"

"They need to toughen up is all. Weak little boys… Back to work!"

"She's such a charmer." K laughed.

"We're working hard, but we need to eat something!" Shuichi whined.

"Sakano-san, can you get some food brought up for us?" Ryu asked.

"Of course, sir." He bowed away, leaving the studio.

"Here, have my Coke." Ryu tried to help Shuichi sit up and drink, "They're all limp! You poor things!"

"You're coddling them, Ryu."

"No way!"

They were finally allowed to have dinner, sitting around the table with greatness. Greatness that laid out a new scenario for them.

"You guys really have something special." Ryu started, "I'm so excited to see you get out there and really show your stuff to the world."

"We really are, too." Hiro yawned, "Even if you couldn't tell from how he look now."

"Heh heh, I understand!… Part of the reason it's so special is that you guys have good chemistry. I can tell that you _really_ love playing together. It makes your music special to experience." Ryu stopped, having another mouthful of his yaki soba.

"Thanks. We really do like each other. We've been best friends since grade school." Shuichi was glad that at least they had something worth mentioning by Ryu.

"I got Sakano-san to give me some of your stuff to read. The things you're working on writing. It's pretty cool, even if it isn't finished yet… So… I kinda want to suggest something and I don't want you to take it the wrong way..."

"Lay it on us." Hiro encouraged.

"Okay… Shuichi, I think even Hiro will admit that you're the driving force behind this band of two. Your creative process is what keeps things going. You have a lot going for you. You're a great singer, you're starting to become a talented song writer and composer, and you have a _load_ of stage presence. The few videos I saw of you guys performing, it was pretty clear that when you get out form behind that keyboard, you _really_ shine… So I want you to put aside the keyboards for a while and concentrate on that other part. Work on your composition, your singing, your performance. Will you try that?"

"I-… But… who will play keyboards for us?"

"For a little while, it's going to be Noriko-chan… but I have someone else in mind that I'm working on getting for you as a permanent player. I promise you won't regret it. I wouldn't give you someone that didn't know what they were doing, who didn't have a passion for music. You trust me, right?"

"Yeah, but I never thought I wouldn't be playing keyboards in our band…"

"Don't think of it that way." Ryu shook his head, "For example, I can play nearly every instrument there is, but I don't feel _upset_ when Noriko or Touma are playing keyboards, which I love playing _too_. I know that they're playing for me, supporting me, giving life to the music I've made… and I can _sing_. For me, that's my absolute favorite. What about for you?"

"I guess it really is my favorite thing, too." He agreed now that he thought about it, "Being able to get out from behind the keyboards and play around with Hiro while he's playing guitar or bass…"

"You're a born front-man, as far as I'm concerned." Ryu continued to praise him, "Will you give it a try?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not? I'm not gonna turn down Ukai's talent, even if she is kinda _rough _on us…"

"Hey! Shut up, kid! I'm just being professional!" She barked at him.

"_Owie_, Nori-chan! Shhhh…" Ryu nudged her then gave her a hug, "I'm so excited to perform with you again. Touma-chan is going to go out for drinks with us tonight. Fun!"

"Really? That guy is free?"

"Yeah. I told him you were coming out so he made himself available."

"Cool. Let's do it." She smooched him again, "I need a drink after dealing with these babies of yours."

"Maybe you'd be nicer if you were drunk?" Hiro wondered.

"Not much, but a _little_." K confirmed.

"Are you gonna come with us, K?" Ryu asked.

"If Touma's going _out_, I'm going _home_."

"Aww, boooo… No fun!"

"Shit, it's more fun for me to be _home_."

"You two still can't get along, huh?" Noriko lit a cigarette.

"Nope. That'll never happen." He shook his head.

"But you were NRG's manager… How can you not get along with Seguchi-sama?" Hiro wondered.

"He didn't recruit me for the job. Ryu did."

"Right out of an airport lounge at Narita." Ryu smiled proudly, "He was on his way home to the USA after his final tour of duty when I found him there, wearing a uniform with short hair."

"You were in the _military_?"

"You bet." K nodded.

"And you went right from that to managing a band?"

"Hey, I couldn't say no."

"I'm very persuasive." Ryu laughed, "Our manager quit on us that very day, in that very airport. We were supposed to go to LA for a music festival. The plane was leaving in two hours and we didn't really speak enough English to get along. I promised Nori and Touma that I'd fix it… so I found K. He was perfect. He spoke English and Japanese and he liked music."

"Plus I was too stupid to say no, apparently." He lit up his own after dinner cigarette.

"K puts his heart into everything he does so he couldn't give up on us, even 'til now!"

"Wow. That's a surprise." Shuichi had never imagined that this guy could have ended up there that way.

"After being in the military, dealing with a Japanese band was no big deal. It's been a wild ride. Wouldn't trade it for the world."

They were allowed to call it quits for the night, heading out in a pack into the quiet after-hours halls of the place. There were only a few security guards around and at the secure executive doors, there was Touma Seguchi.

"The whole band… all together… Wow…" Shuichi murmured his awe as Ukai met Seguchi with a hug and a kiss.

"Hey, baby…" She patted his cheek next.

"Well, this is quite the occasion." He smiled sweetly, "All of us together."

"No kidding. You're looking well. Haven't seen you in ages!"

"Speaking of, Mika will be joining us shortly… How are the kids?"

"_Fantastic_. I want more!" She laughed, "I'm mommy crazy."

"Nori-chan is making a new band for us all on her own." Ryu now joined the hug, "I love you guys…"

"Heh heh…" Seguchi seemed rather peaceful, a limo pulling up outside the doors, "Will you be joining us, K?"

"Nope. It's your lucky night. Enjoy it." He winked.

"I certainly will."

Shuichi shivered, seeing something worrisome in the look that was coming from Seguchi toward K. He still looked as though he were smiling as sweetly as ever—his trademark angelic smile from every NRG poster he'd ever seen… but there was something more…

"Let's go get this party started! Woo!" Noriko broke the hug, heading for the limo, Ryu following her along.

"Oh, Shindou-kun… How is Eiri doing?" Seguchi approached him now, that same look on his face, "I hardly get to see him any more… but we did have a chat the other day."

"He…. He's fine. Really busy." They had talked the other day? Maybe that was what lead to the whole incident the night before… Yuki had mentioned Seguchi's name, after all.

"Yes. Yes he is. No time for anyone… Well… Good night." He turned and headed for the limo, the three of them going out and watching it pull away.

"Wow… I thought he had that look reserved for _me_." K looked at Shuichi, "What'd you do to piss him off, kid?"

"Nothing!" At least someone else had noticed it, "What would I do to anyone??"

"Good question but he really seems to have a sore spot that you're rubbing. Best to stay away from him if you can. That's my best advice from years of knowing." K clapped an understanding hand on Shuichi's shoulder, "Come on… Let's get a cab, kids."

"What'd I just miss?" Hiro wondered, following them along.

"I'm not actually sure…" Shuichi sighed.

But the wheels were turning in Shuichi's brain, putting pieces together. He was starting to see that Ryuichi Sakuma might be even more on his side than he had thought. It was all just like Seguchi's smile… On the surface it was all very nice and regular, but underneath there was an _awful_ lot going on. If that was the case, he had better be careful and maybe he should really focus his efforts where Sakuma was suggesting. People that Seguchi didn't get along with had staying power because of Ryuichi. He wondered if Yuki would be proud of him for figuring this much out on his own.

"Right." He nodded to himself, deciding what he had to do.

"What happened there? You act like you just figured something out." Hiro slung an arm around Shuichi's shoulders as they followed K along the sidewalk, searching for a free taxi.

"I think I did. I'm going to become an _awesome_ singer, songwriter and performer."

"So you're not pissed about someone else playing the keyboards?"

"I can't be." He shook his head, "I trust that he'll find us a great keyboardist. He's already lending us Ukai-san."

"That's hugely mature of you. I'm shocked!"

"Me, too, actually." He sighed, "I need some sleep."

His head was full as he settled down for the night on the floor of Hiro's apartment. Up in the loft, he could hear Hiro rolling over, shutting out the light.

"_This isn't where I want to be_…" Shuichi sighed and after a while of not being able to close his eyes he opened his cell phone and sent a text to Yuki, "You're right. I'm going to do my very best. You'll see." He flopped back down burying his head in his pillow until a beep disturbed him. A reply. It made him smile to read it.

"Good. Get some sleep."

"I guess I'm not _completely_ cut off. That's good. Good night, Yuki." He kissed the phone and managed to fall asleep.

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**That's it for chapter 10 - Please Review =D**

**Look for updates of Remix, Ending and a New Beginning, too!**


	11. From Nothing to Something

**Chapter Notes** - Don't be too shocked that I've updated quickly! I just sorta want to keep it moving at this point and get these chapters off my shoulders so I can concentrate on cleaning and finishing the other side of the story. I feel a little motivated!  
Highlights of this chapter - The boys are on the edge of notoriety and finally graduating from high school. Sakano attempts in vain to keep things organized. Ukai is a very pretty hard-ass. Aizawa lets his jerk-light shine bright. Is he really as bad as he appears to be? Eiri seems to think so.

**Questions from reviews** - I don't think there's really anything being asked this time around that won't be answered by reading the coming chapters :)

**Please read and review !****  
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After much torturous practicing with Ukai they were ready for the TV spot. It was all very exciting, especially letting Ryuichi hear how they were going to perform the music. That was his rehearsal—just listening to them with his eyes closed, legs crossed and tapping his toe in the air, head nodding slightly.

"Thank you. That was perfect." Ryu smiled peacefully, eyes opening.

"I guess all my hard work paid off." Ukai giggled, "That wasn't half bad, you two."

"Thank _God_…" Hiro slumped onto the floor, "We're finally good enough."

"I think my fingers have cramped up…" Shuichi moaned, "They're definitely gonna fall off!"

Noriko scowled at them, "Quit your bitching, you little puss—"

"Woah! Hey, Noriko! How about some soda, huh?" Ryu interrupted her next bad word, hopping out of his seat, clapping for them, "I'm really looking forward to this."

"Are you _sure_ you really don't want to sing it once?" Shuichi asked, rubbing his aching hands.

"I'm sure." He nodded, "Tomorrow, your pain will be all worth it. Your faces and music will be on TVs _all_ across the country." He stretched his arms wide.

"When you put it that way, my broken arms don't hurt so much." Hiro laughed.

Sakano came back then, "Did I miss it?"

"Yup." Ryu smiled at him.

"Then the next step is to discuss your wardrobes for tomorrow." The suited man said, checking in his planner.

"Wardrobes?" Shuichi wondered.

"Of course. We want to make sure that you are appropriately representing the studio." He pushed his glassed back up onto his nose quite firmly.

"No no no…" Ryu shook his head, "Wear whatever you want, guys."

"But, _sir_…" Sakano protested.

"Heck, _I'm_ just going to be wearing ratty jeans and some T-shirt." Ryu shrugged, "Wear whatever you're comfy in, whatever you'd usually perform in. Seriously."

"You're wearing _jeans_, sir?"

"Yuh huh." He tugged at the pair he had on.

Sakano looked toward K, obviously distressed. K just shrugged, "Let 'em wear what they want. No big deal."

"But the other bands are—"

"Those are _other_ bands. Let it go, Sakano." K told him in a cautionary manner.

"All right." He gulped.

"What are you gonna wear, Nori-chan?" Ryu wondered.

"Something sexy but casual. I have just the thing! There _better_ be hair stylists there…"

"Hai, Ukai-sama. Of course." Sakano bowed to her, "Please be here at 4 P.M. for warm-up and so we can make it to the TV studio for briefing, makeup and hair. Sakuma-sama will be arriving separately. K-san will be introducing the bands with the show's host… The Cherry Vertigo opens, Ask will follow, and then Bad Luck will play two songs before Sakuma-sama comes out. You'll perform 'Through and Through', and then leave the stage for a brief interview. Food will be provided back stage, but I beg you to be careful that you don't spill anything on yourselves!"

"Good point. Shuichi's a butterfingers!" Hiro mocked him.

Pretty soon it was back down to him and Hiro, wandering along the sidewalk toward their favorite diner for a late dinner.

"So… This is it." Hiro sighed, looking around.

"Huh?"

"The last day we're just gonna be you and me." He smiled back down on Shuichi, "After tomorrow, our faces and names are going to be out there for everyone to see alongside the likes of Ryuichi Sakuma and Norkio Ukai. We won't be nobodies anymore. We might not be famous, but… we won't _not_ be famous." He laughed at himself, "Man, I'm so tired I'm not making sense."

"No, I get it." He nodded, "You're right. That's exactly it… and we're going to shine among those stars. I just _know_ it… but I'm _nervous_ too."

"I'm nervous, too, but I feel like I could play '_Through and Through_' in my sleep now. In fact, I think I _have_ been."

"Same here."

"I'm really proud of you, little man. You've been working hard."

"I'm kinda proud of me, too… so buy me a milkshake!"

"I sure will. _Two_, if you want."

"I definitely _want_."

"The only thing that will suck tomorrow… is Taki Aizawa and the Douche Bags of Doom."

"We'll just stay away from them, that's all."

"Problem is, I don't think they're gonna feel the same way. They've really got it in for us… For _you_, really. You push that dude's buttons without hardly trying."

"I guess it's my hidden super power coming out."

"Save it for the performance!"

"Yep yep. No Taki Kryptonite for me!"

Most of the next morning was spent trying to decide what to wear to the performance. Sakano cringed visibly, seeing what they'd chosen.

"Are you by any chance… color blind?" He asked Shuichi.

"No. Why?"

"No reason…" He shook his head, walking away as K showed up.

"Oh, _damn_! I think I just went blind!" He laughed, "What are you _wearing_, short-round?"

"Uh… _stuff_." He shrugged, "You don't like it?"

"It's… _different_. Kinda like a Technicolor mummy. Layers, huh?… You look _good_, Hiroshi. Nice job, man."

"Thanks. Hey, I think I just won the fashion contest!" He tugged on the lapels of his black jacket proudly.

"Big whoop. I think I look _hot_."

Ukai wore a pretty pink haori over a tight, white t-shirt dress with tall white boots. Hiro gave her a good looking over, even if she was way out of his league and age range.

"She looks _awesome_… You'd never know she's such a hard-ass just by looking at her now."

"She's someone's _mom_, Hiro… You're checking out a _mom_… Creepy!"

"But she's a _hot_ momma… Yow…"

She came tromping toward them, "Okay, let's get this moving! I've got a hairdresser to see! And just what the _hell_ are you wearing, twerp? Did your closet puke on you??" She laughed at Shuichi.

"Hey, I have my _own_ style. You're all just _jealous_."

"Oh, you can keep thinking that, you delusional little kid. LET'S GO!"

Shuichi and Hiro tried to keep out of the way at the TV studio while Ukai got her hair and makeup done and after they had both gotten a little face powder to eliminate any potential camera shine.

"Holy _shit_! What the hell are you wearing?" Shuichi cringed along with Hiro, confronted by those they were trying to avoid. "You look stupider than _usual_, brat." Taki was laughing at him.

"Go _away_…"

"This is _perfect_. You're gonna be laughed off stage!"

Ukai made her grand entrance then and once again, everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at the fame that had suddenly shown up, looking picture perfect with her hair freshly done and Sakano following along.

"How do I look, boys?" She struck a few poses for them.

"Pretty hot." Hiro held up a thumb.

"Of course!" She giggled wickedly.

"A… Are you… Ukai Norkio?" The blondie asked.

"You bet I am. Who _else_ looks this good?" She winked at them.

"We didn't know you were performing today. That's really cool."

"Playing keyboards with Bad Luck." She nodded, perfect curls bouncing.

"You… You're _what_?" Taki was in shock.

"Yep. Let's go, nerds. We've got stuff to talk about."

"Yes'm." They hurried to follow her, leaving 'Ask' behind with Hiro's middle finger for a wave goodbye.

"What the hell?" Taki turned to Ma, "_Seriously_, what the hell? All of the sudden they've got Ukai-sama as their keyboard player?"

Ma shrugged, "Guess that's how it is."

"They're nobodies! How do they rate _her_?"

"I don't get it, myself." Ken was rubbing his head, looking confused, "Isn't Shindou the keyboard player?"

"Well, he _was_…"

"This is _so_ not right…"

"And they're going last… It's almost like… we're opening for _them_ this time."

"Don't even _say_ that." Taki growled, stomping off with his band following along.

The crowd in the club setup of the TV Studio was getting a little anxious as Cherry Vertigo took the stage. Shuichi was pretty impressed by the energetic girl band all dressed in various cherry red outfits. They really had it together in a lot of ways.

"Hey, I wonder when Sakuma is going to show up." Hiro said close to his ear so he could hear over the noise.

"Dunno." He shrugged.

"I'd kind of feel better if he were here now what with Taki seeming to be seeking us out on purpose… Oh, look… Ukai's _dancing_…"

Nearby, Sakano was standing in the wings with Ukai who was definitely enjoying the sounds from this band and looked darned good doing it.

"She's still a _mom_…"

"Doesn't look anything like _my_ mom… Or _yours_. I can look."

"Dirty brains, Hiroshi-kun!"

"Have you lost _all_ sense of what's hot in women now that you've been nailed by a dude?"

"I'm just being realistic, weirdo."

Ask took the stage after a short break to swap out the instruments during which the show host was interviewing the band and taking audience questions.

"They're sure trying hard…" Shuichi scowled, giving them bad vibes as much as possible, but the audience was liking them so he had to give them some credit.

Again the instruments were swapped out, interview conducted, K shining as the enthusiastic representative of NRG Studios.

"We're up…" Shuichi offered Hiro a hand and they shook, "Good luck for Bad Luck?"

"You bet. Let's do our best, little man."

"What are you waiting for! Go!" Ukai shoved them forward with her as their introduction started and they took the stage to cheers that Shuichi wasn't sure were for them so much as they were for Noriko. Their first number went flawlessly and Shuichi started to calm down and get into it, especially when he noticed that Ryuichi had finally shown up in the wings, smiling and standing behind where Ask was huddled together returning the bad vibes Shuichi had been dishing out to them earlier.

"Wow, that's an _amazing_ outfit Shu-chan has on." Ryu commented as they were taking a bow after their second song.

"Looks like the kid has trouble dressing himself." Taki laughed.

"Aww, be nice to him! He's just creative."

"If that's what you wanna call it." He looked up as Ryu went by them, heading for the stage, "What the…"

They all stared after him as the crowd in the studio went wild for seeing Ryuichi Sakuma live on stage for the first time in years. He smiled and waved to everyone, getting mic'ed up by the stage crew.

"_Hello_ everyone! _Thank_ you for coming out tonight to see some of our bands!" He bowed deeply to the crowd, "I hope you're having fun!" Shuichi was nearly in tears. It was really great to be there in that moment, feeling the crowd's love for this guy. "And I hope you don't mind, but I'm _really_ missing being on stage and so I'm going to sing for you all tonight with these guys and this _super_ cute girl as my band!"

He threw his hand back toward them, the cheers rolling over them like waves. Even Ukai seemed to be moved but snapped back into it, starting the music as Ryu got comfy where he was standing, and then… his amazing voice came rolling out. It was breathtaking, but Shuichi managed to do his part and not get caught up in the moment too much. The crowd had gone silent, mouths open in awe, smiling at the pure joy that Ryuichi put in to his singing. As his voice finally faded away in the final strains, the crowd filled in the coming silence with their cries of approval. Ryu laughed and bounced a little, bowing a few times before pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Ukai left her keyboard and went to hug him.

"That was _amazing_ fun!" Ryu finally spoke again, the crowd slowing down a little at the sound of his voice returning, "Thank you _so_ much for letting me sing for you again! But I feel bad because I stole time from these guys so… please listen to one more song from them!"

"Huh?" Shuichi was in shock, not prepared for this. Hiro looked at him, shrugging.

Ryu whispered something to Ukai who nodded and returned to her keyboards with a skip in her step. Ryu was coming toward Shuichi now, eyes gleaming, covering the hands-free mic with his hand.

"Shu-chan… Do '_Sonic Boom_'. It's _perfect_ for right now."

"But… it's not approved yet."

"I just approved it! I made Nori-chan practice it on the sly so get out from behind there and go sing like only _you_ can sing."

"O… Okay!"

Ryu pulled him out from behind the keyboard and towed him forward, Hiro wondering what the hell was going on along with Ask who was somewhere between anger and awe where they sat behind the curtains.

"One more song from Bad Luck, everyone! Give them lots of love!" Ryu announced, holding up Shuichi's arm like he had just won a race.

As Ukai started to play, Hiro figured it out pretty quickly and picked up his bass to play catch-up. Shuichi laughed, amazed at what was happening, starting to dance along with Ryu and just have a good time. That night his voice came out in a way that it hadn't before.

"How is this _happening_?" Taki was furious, "Why the _hell_ are these brats getting superstar support??"

"Calm down…" Ma took him by the shoulders, "Just let it go. Apparently they're just friends, somehow."

"He's a _high school_ kid!"

"With _connections_…"

Something caught Taki's eye at that moment. Off to the side by one of the floor security doors, there was a tall blond guy standing very calmly with a slight smile on his face at what was going on up on the stage. He looked completely out of place there in the mayhem. Shuichi had noticed him now, too. Taki recognized that _look_ and how much more energy suddenly went into Shuichi's performance.

"That guy… Who's that guy?" He pointed down, turning Ma toward him, "I know him from somewhere."

"Oh _yeah_. That's Eiri Yuki. He's some famous romance writer. My sister's totally nuts over him. His sister's married to Seguchi-sama."

"_Really_…" He started to put pieces together, "So _that's_ his connection, huh?" He smirked, "I guess I just figured you out a bit, brat…"

"Huh?" Ma asked him as he turned and walked away.

As the song ended, Yuki turned and went out the security door, as anonymously as he had come in. Shuichi was thrilled to the center of his being that Yuki had shown up that night and even smiled a little.

"_That's all I'll ever need… Just to know you support me_…" He sighed deeply and returned his attention to the chaos at hand, taking the praise that was being showered on them and answering questions from the audience as best he could during the interview.

"We hope you'll continue to support _all_ of our artists at their upcoming shows. Be sure to check out the NRG Studios website for dates and venues." K beamed his smiled out to TV-land.

"And support the arts in your schools!" Ryu added, getting one last round of applause to end the night.

It was going to take a while before the studio could clear out the crowd that night. The rest of the NRG acts gathered in a conference room to celebrate. K tried to calm them down as more water and food was brought in.

"Good job, everyone. This has been one of the best spots I've seen us do in a while. You should definitely be very proud. Right, Ryu?"

"You bet! You guys rocked the place, for sure. I'm super stoked!"

They laughed and clapped for their enthusiastic owner and leader.

"It's gonna take a while before they can clear out the place so we're just going to hang here for a while until it gets a little safer to leave so just relax, have some food, and we'll let you know when the cars are ready to take you home."

A couple girls from Cherry Vertigo came over and started to flirt with Hiro, who was all too happy to put up with it while Shuichi checked his cell phone which had been buzzing. A nice note from Yuki saying "Well done.. You should be proud." And he just sent back a big "Thank you!!"

In the security hall, Yuki was busy composing that very text on his way to the door. A couple security guards were waiting to escort him to a car.

"Eiri Yuki!" He heard from behind him and stopped, turning around and seeing some guy coming down the empty hallway smirking at him, "So it really _is_ you… Music fan, huh?"

"Who are you?"

"Taki Aizawa." He said, tilting his head in a cocky way.

"Un… Excuse me." He turned away and headed for the door, annoyed and knowing that name from Shuichi having complained about him for a while.

"Hey, stick around. I'm sure _Shuichi_ would _love_ to see you!" The guy called after him, digging.

Yuki had really had it enough as it was that week so this little prick wasn't going to get to him and he walked right out the door to the car that was waiting for him without saying another word. Shuichi really did have this guy pegged right, after all. Even Yuki could tell after those few moments that this guy was a real pain in the ass.

Eventually Shuichi found a quiet place and made a phone call, keeping his fingers crossed. Yuki answered.

"H… Hi..." Shuichi urged out.

"Hey. Good job." The sound of Yuki's voice in his ear was ultimately melting to him.

"Yeah. I'm really pleased with how it went. It was like _magic_."

"Think the crowd felt the same way. Now you just have to wait for the reviews to come in."

"That'll be a little scary."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Hey, um… Can I stop by for a while… maybe?"

"It's been a rough week…"

"Oh…" He frowned, disappointed.

"So I'm feeling particularly worn down, resistance-wise." Yuki continued, "Come on over if you can sneak away."

"Really?" He perked right up.

"Really. Bye."

"Bye bye." He closed the phone after hearing Yuki hang up, "Yay!"

He returned to the group to join in on the celebration until they could get out of there. At Hiro's place he hurried to change and sneak off instead to Yuki's place even though Hiro counseled him not to get his hopes up.

In the morning he woke with a gasp to the sound of his cell phone going off, sitting up in bed. Yuki grumbled and rolled away.

"Oh… yeah." He smiled to himself that he wasn't on Hiro's floor today and hurried to silence his phone where it was chiming in his pants pocket on the floor. It was a call from home. He blushed, hurrying to put on some clothes and call back. Somehow it felt as though he had been caught in the act, having his family call while he was still in bed with Yuki beside him.

"What was that?" Yuki mumbled.

"My phone. Sorry. I'll go call back in the living room." He whispered, making his exit and shutting the door for good measure before hitting the call back number. His father answered.

"Shuichi… Good morning."

"Hi, dad. What's up?"

"We've been reading about you in the paper and seeing you on TV today. How incredible!"

"Really?"

"Indeed. Apparently your performance last night went over very well. The program is going to be replayed this evening. We're so _proud_ of you, Shu."

"Aw, _thanks_, dad…" He sighed, feeling like mush, "I only just got up so I haven't seen the news yet. Are there any reviews?"

"There are a few plus an article. Your mother is clipping them out to go and show Hiroshi-kun's mother. I think she wants to show proof to the poor woman that all is not lost with her son not going on to college." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I know his family's not really happy about this, but that's all the more reason for us to do even better!"

"That's the spirit, son. From what I saw it looked like you were having a wonderful time up there on stage."

"I really was. That was like the best thing in the world, especially since the crowd was so good and I got to sing and dance with my personal super hero."

"Aa, yes. That's right. That's the person from the poster in your room. Sakuma Ryuichi."

"Yep. That was the first time he's sung in public in years. That alone would have been cool enough, but to be there with him… Wow!" He laughed, "Must sound silly to you, huh?"

"Not at all. It's not everyone that gets to have something like that happen. To be actually connected to someone that they admire and who inspires them… Now, we'd like to have a family dinner tonight so we can talk before the ceremony on Sunday. Will you be able to spend time with the little people, do you think?"

"I'll manage to work you into my schedule, no problem." He laughed, then suddenly felt a pang of guilt, "Hey, dad? I have a weird question…"

"Ask it."

"Is there… anything that could make you… _not_ proud of me?"

"That _is_ a weird question." His father laughed warmly, "Shu… I'm a believer in people being happy in their lives. If what you are doing is bringing you happiness while not causing anyone else harm, then there is no reason to worry about it, is there?"

"I guess you're right… I'll see you later tonight."

"Good. Until then…"

"Bye, dad."

He sighed again as he closed his phone, leaning back on the leather sofa and wondering what his father would have to say about Yuki. Yuki who had refused to come to his graduation but for some reason had shown up quietly to his very public performance.

There was little doubt in his mind that Yuki's family _would_ be ashamed of their son… and he was a first son of a temple, at that. He hadn't really given it much thought before.

Shuichi was _also_ a first son. His father had proudly added 'ichi' to the end of his name… but he had never been pressured to follow in his father's footsteps at the import/export house. His father had done that by going to work alongside his own father in the place he worked and then taking his position when he had passed away a couple years back. When he was younger, Shuichi had gone to work a few days here and there with his dad and been amazed at all he did and all the giant machinery for moving around palates of things from all over the world in the many warehouses. But for Shuichi, that didn't seem at all the kind of life he wanted to have for his work, even if his dad really seemed to enjoy it. That was it, though… His dad was _happy_. He wasn't doing it because he _had_ to.

"I guess I'm really luckier than I realize." He sighed, looking away from the city view and toward the hallway, hearing footsteps before Yuki emerged, "Morning."

"Morning."

"Sorry if that woke you too early." He shrugged.

"It's all right. I have work to do, anyway." Yuki's expression was rather cool this morning, but not too much so.

"My folks want me home tonight for dinner before the ceremony tomorrow."

"That's right… You're graduating tomorrow. Congratulations."

"Thanks. It was a lot of work, but it's all done now. So, thanks to you, too, for all your hard work."

"At least I won't have to see your gakuran* again." He smirked, softening his expression and posture.

"Then it's all worth it, huh?" He felt safe to smile now, though sleepily.

"Indeed."

"I could give it to you so you could have fun burning it."

"I don't think the landlord would approve… Hungry?"

"Yep. Like you have to _ask_…"

"Help by getting the plates out. Don't break them or I'll kill you."

"Yes, sir." He sighed contentedly and got up to follow Yuki to the kitchen.

Breakfast was eaten in front of the TV, Shuichi being more and more excited by what was on the news about their performance. Somehow, Ryuichi's surprise appearance hadn't completely overshadowed their own performance. Everyone wanted to know more about their band.

"That's the kind of publicity that people pay millions for." Yuki remarked, sipping his coffee, "And instead, you got paid for it."

"Not much, but yeah. We got an artist's fee for performing… I wonder if they paid Sakuma-san?"

"Probably not. They couldn't afford him." Yuki chuckled, "That was a hell of a thing he did. He's still got it, too. Impressive."

"More than impressive. Amazing! Hearing him sing up close and personal… Wow… How's his voice so good? I'm jealous…"

"Nothing to be jealous of. You've got your own talent and he seems to know how to showcase it."

Shuichi had a million questions for Yuki all bottled up inside of him, but it didn't seem like the right time to be asking him. Yuki's cell phone lit up where it was resting on the coffee table, but stayed silent so Shuichi nudged him and pointed it out.

"Un… Tatsuha's feeling a little jealous himself." He said after listening to his voice mail, "He'd like to get that close to Ryu."

"Ewww…"

"My thoughts exactly."

Shortly after breakfast, Shuichi had a shower and headed out, questions still unasked and trying to go unnoticed in his departure. He wasn't going to question Yuki, especially about his being allowed to stay over. There were other things he had to focus on at the moment… and he got the feeling that the rough part wasn't even half over yet.

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**That's it for chapter 11 - Please Review =D**

***Gakuran = school uniform  
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	12. When it Rains it Pours

**Chapter Notes** - It's September so it's time for new starts... like the start of a new school year! Even though I'm not in school anymore, I still feel like September is the time to get back to work. To that end, here's another cleaned-up chapter for your enjoyment. Poor Shu-chan has a lot of work ahead of him, too...

**Please read and review !****  
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Hiro let a bedraggled Shuichi into his apartment. He was soaked to the bone from the rain and miserable. Recently there had been a lot more friction between Yuki and Shuichi. It was probably mostly due to the rumors that had started swirling around in the media since they'd been spotted out in public together. It wasn't the kind of publicity that Yuki Eiri needed, especially not with a new novel about to come out. More often than not, Shuichi was sleeping on Hiro's floor, too upset to go home to his parent's place. At least Shuichi had managed to do the TV spot and graduate before this latest set of emotional trauma had kicked in.

"_Now_ what?" He asked the mess that was standing in the hallway.

"He kicked me out _again_…" Shuichi grumbled, coming inside and accepting a towel from his very patient best friend.

"Surprise… Why don't you just give up and move on? The guy's obviously not interested anymore."

"I can't! It's not that _easy_!" He whined, rubbing his head to dry his hair, "I don't know what I'm doing wrong!"

"Maybe you're not doing anything wrong. Maybe he's just an asshole. Have you ever thought of that?"

"Stop _saying_ that." He pouted.

"Fine." Hiro huffed and just settled in for a Friday night of whining which went on to Saturday.

Shuichi was determined to make Yuki apologize to him before he went back this time. Hiro didn't really see that as something that would ever happen in a million years. Then the bombshell hit… A theatre production's glitzy opening night in Tokyo was on the news and so was Yuki… with a young woman on his arm.

"That _asshole_! He's with a _girl_!" Shuichi moaned while Hiro stared, captivated.

"Wow… She's _really_ cute. Totally not his type. He tends to go for bimbos… Wow…"

"Stop drooling over her! This isn't fair!"

"You bet it's not. I'd _really_ be into her…" He turned up the volume as they were speculating that she was his fiancée, part of an arranged marriage between well-known families back in Kyoto.

"F… _Fiancée_?" The color drained out of Shuichi's face.

"That guy sure doesn't tell you all the details, does he?"

"I can understand him not mentioning a _brother_, but… a _fiancée_? He's _marrying_ her?"

"It really is unfair… Man, she's soooo cute…"

"That's not what's important, Hiro!"

"It is to _me_, little man… She looks so scared from all the attention. She's gotta be around our age."

"So _what_?"

"So she's freaking cute!"

"Then you can have her and I'll have Yuki back!"

"I'm not so sure that's exactly an option at the moment... You think she'd want _me_ over a handsome, rich and famous author? Half the women in the country would gnaw off their own right arm to get a chance at him, sad as that is because he's a _dick_…"

Against Hiro's better judgement, they ended up camping out on Yuki's front doorstep that night, keeping out of the rain under an overhang. There was no way he was going to leave Shuichi on his own to confront Yuki-san, especially given the kid's emotional state. As a self-incentive, he told himself that it'd be worth it if he could get a close-up look at the girl that was with Yuki-san.

"I totally wouldn't mind going karaoke with her…" He said to himself as they waited in the wet dark.

"Huh? What? You see them?" Shuichi perked up.

"Nah, just talking to myself. Sorry."

Eventually a limo pulled up to drop off the happy couple. Shuichi stood up with a snarl, waiting to meet them. The poor girl looked very worried to see the two of them standing there in the dark and clung to Yuki's arm.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Yuki growled at Shuichi, "Get lost…"

"No. You have some explaining to do about _that_!" He pointed at the shocked girl.

"I don't have to explain _anything_ to you, brat. Go _home_."

"I thought this _was_ my home!" He wailed.

"Shut up!"

"No! You could have _told_ me! I have a right to know that you're engaged already! Don't I?"

"It's none of your business."

"Eiri… Who are these people?" She asked nervously.

"I'm his _boyfriend_!" Shuichi snapped, responding before Eiri could.

"Wh… _What_?"

"He's _mine_! I won't give him up to you!" Shuichi shrieked at her.

"Eiri… You're _involved_ with him? Is this _true_?" She looked up at him.

"I suppose it is." He relented in a grumble, shocking Hiro at admitting it to someone outside of their tightly knit circle.

"You _suppose_ it is? Either you _are_ or you're _not_!" She gasped, letting go of him immediately.

"Yeah, I am. He's my lover." He nodded, not even looking at her, voice cold.

With that, she slapped him, "You're _horrible_! How _could_ you?" And then she stormed off into the rain. Yuki didn't move to go after her so Hiro did, popping open his umbrella to try and keep her dry.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Shuichi snarled.

"Why _should_ I? I didn't pick her." He grabbed Shuichi by the arm roughly.

"Ow!"

"You want me so bad that you're going to make a scene?" He growled.

"Of _course_ I do! I love you, you dummy!"

"That doesn't matter, in the long run. Did you think we'd just go riding off into the sunset together? Like some happy couple?"

"Yes!"

"Then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were…"

"Don't _say_ that… Yuki… Do you laugh with her like you do with me? Do you smile for her like you do for me? If you say you do, I won't believe you… because _she's_ never here. I _am_. That tells me a lot right there… I _know_ you don't love her."

"I don't love _anyone_…"

Off in the pouring rain, Hiro caught up to the girl.

"Umm… Hi…" He offered, covering her with the umbrella, even if it was a little late for that. She was soaked.

"Who _are_ you?" She sniffled, scooting away from him slightly.

"Nakano Hiroshi, at your service." He smiled as kindly as he could, hoping to calm her down, "You can call me Hiro… Who are _you_?"

"Usami Ayaka … Are you _also_ Eiri-san's boyfriend?"

"No _way_… I'm 100 percent for the ladies. The little guy with the wild hair, he's my best friend. I've known him since we were kids so… I guess I was just there for moral support." He shrugged. "He was a _little_ upset after we saw you two on the news tonight."

"So… you know about them, too…" She sighed.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard not to in my situation… I'm _really_ sorry things turned out like this. It's nothing against you. Those two just have a lot to work out between them."

"I can't _believe_ he didn't tell me… He made me come all this way, put me in front of news cameras for the world to see… but he's the lover of a _boy_…"

"Shuichi's a really good guy, actually…" He tried, her confused brown eyes turning toward him, looking like she was about to cry, "Sorry. You probably don't want to hear that right now..."

"Tatsuha was making hints before I came up to see Eiri… I guess I should have questioned him more… but our families have been _really_ pushing for us to get married recently…"

"So, it's really an arranged marriage?"

"Un…" She nodded.

"Hey… Usami-chan… Let's get out of the rain. I know a nice diner. We can get something to eat. My treat!"

"Well… I don't have anywhere else to go so… all right. I could use a milkshake."

"Me, too. They make _great_ ones."

He escorted her to the diner that they usually hung out at, thinking that Shuichi would probably make his way there once their fight was over… Either that or he'd be having make-up sex and not show up at all. This was his only chance to get to know this girl, too. If he had anything to say about it, she wouldn't be marrying Yuki. She really was very nice and sweet. It made him nuts to think she'd be with _that_ guy instead of him. He tried not to bug her too much because she was upset… and just watched her sipping her milkshake for a while before talking to her again.

"Usami-chan… I'm curious. Are you in high school?"

"Me? Oh, no. Do I look that young?"

"Well… yeah… You're kinda young and cute looking. Heh heh…" He smiled nervously.

"Th-Thank you… Are _you_ in High School?"

"Just graduated." He nodded, "Top of my class."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks… Umm…"

"Hiroshi-kun… Do you think that Eiri is in love with your friend?"

"Uh… How should I put this?" He wondered.

"Just say whatever is the truth, please. Don't decorate it for my sake."

"All right… I believe that he is, and they'd both be happier if he'd admit it to himself _and_ to Shuichi."

"So… Shuichi is in love with _him_?"

"Oh, yeah. That's putting it mildly... Seems like they started off fairly smoothly… but lately they've been fighting a lot. Maybe because Yuki-san is trying to get rid of him so he can marry you like he's expected to." He shrugged, "It kinda makes sense now."

"Oh… How _horrible_ this all is…" She sighed.

"Sorry. You said not to decorate the truth, right?"

"Un… It's just that I feel so badly, coming between them."

That statement gave Hiro some hope so he decided to go for broke and ask his burning question. "Do _you_ love Yuki-san?"

"We have known each other since we were children… and from a very early age I understood that I was meant to be his wife one day… I tried to convince myself that I could be in love with him… and I know that so many women would envy me… but…"

"You _don't_…"

"No. We are just long-time acquaintances, being pushed together."

"That's a relief." He exhaled.

"It is?"

"It sure is… You have no idea how nuts Shuichi is over that guy… and well… I'm not always a fan of them because he seems pretty harsh, especially lately… and Shu-chan is really soft hearted so he crumbles to bits at the slightest hint that Yuki-san is angry with him… Plus… Well… I know I might be younger than you, but… you're _really_ nice and _really_ cute and I'm glad you might not have to marry someone you don't want to marry…"

"Hiroshi…" She was surprised.

"Heh heh… This is awkward under the circumstances…" He smiled, "But I _really_ like you… so maybe you could give me a chance to help you forget about him?"

She blushed, "This is… _very_ unexpected."

"Am I way too young for you? I'll be 19 soon… but I'm a mature 18!"

"I'm not sure my family would approve, given the circumstances… but I wouldn't mind being friends." She smiled a little, blushing slightly.

"I'll take it." He nodded and wrote his phone number on a piece of napkin for her, "Maybe we could talk about other things for a while, huh?"

"I'd like that a lot."

Shuichi showed up eventually and sat down with them.

"This doesn't look good…" Hiro sighed.

"He kicked me out… _again_." He slid down toward Hiro in the booth, glaring at Ayaka, "Maybe you should take _her_ back over to him."

"Shuichi… This is Ayaka Usami." Hiro tried to introduce them.

"Yeah… Yuki's _fiancée_…" He grumbled, "I get it… and just because I'm a _guy_, you get to win."

"You really love him, don't you?" She smiled.

"Of _course_ I do! I don't just go around hooking up with guys!"

"I guess you just have to convince him, then."

"Huh?" He squinted at her.

"Why don't you calm down and stop being a jerk to her? She's not trying to wreck your life, little man. Just listen." Hiro nudged him.

"Well, _excuse_ me for being mad. It's not every day that the person I'm with suddenly shows up with fiancée out of the blue! I'm a little bit upset right now…"

"I suppose I'm not surprised he didn't tell you. It's not as though he has been very excited about this arrangement." She sighed.

"No?"

"Oh, no… We've been engaged since we were little. Can you imagine that? Being engaged from the first moments you were aware of anything?" She bit her lower lip, "He's 27… I'm 21… So when I was born some of my first pictures are with him. Neither one of us were old enough to understand what was going on, that our parents had decided that we were going to be married…"

Shuichi finally started to calm down and feel bad for her, "Sorry…"

"I'm not out to come between you. I had no idea about you… but I don't have much _choice_ in the matter. If he decides to go through with the marriage, I _have_ to. That's really the only thing I've been raised to do… Be a good wife to the man my family picked for me… I don't even know where I am right now. I've never spent time in Tokyo alone… What a nightmare this has been." She hung her head.

"So… you're saying that you don't _want_ to marry Yuki?"

She shrugged, "I don't love him like you do. I just don't know what to do."

"She's pretty much at the mercy of their combined families, Shu." Hiro added, "They let her go to some classes after high school, but she's really just been kinda hanging out until they can convince him to come home and marry her. Sounds like there's been a lot of pressure on him to go through with it, recently. Maybe that's part of why he's upped the dick-head behavior on you."

"… Is _that_ why his sister wanted him to go home?" He wondered.

"Probably. His family is concerned about him. They think that this will be best for him, to come home and get married." She shrugged, "I know his father has been trying everything to get him to take responsibility for the temple and for me." Her cell phone buzzed then, "Excuse me…" She answered and from the conversation they could tell she was talking to Eiri's brother, telling him where she was before closing the phone, "Apparently Tatsuha is coming."

"Great… That's _just_ what I need. Yuki's pervy brother." Shuichi rolled his eyes, "Maybe you should marry _him_ instead."

"Oh, _no_ thank you." She shook her head.

"Sounds like neither of them are a prize." Hiro smiled at her, "Makes me look like a better option, doesn't it?" He winked.

"Hiroshi…" She laughed softly, "You're _very_ sweet… but don't you think you're a little young to be taking such an immediate interest in a woman? Shouldn't you be out and playing the field?"

"I don't need to play around so I'm going to do everything I can to support Shu-chan in his efforts to convince Yuki-san that marriage just isn't for him. Sound good?" He clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It'd be great if you really cared about _us_ instead of _you_." He humphed.

"One step at a time, little man."

Hiro kept on working his charm with Ayaka and Shuichi settled down a bit so he could talk to her too, get to know that she wasn't the evil witch that he wanted her to be so he could be mad at her. Tatsuha showed up all too soon and made a point to slide into the U-shaped booth beside Shuichi.

"Hey there, hot stuff. Good to see you again."

"Can't say the same. Shove over, Hiro… I'm getting cooties by the millions every second."

"Now, now… Play nice. Now that you know my bro's engaged, you're free to be with me!"

"Not a chance, weirdo."

Ayaka giggled, "Tatsuha… Leave him alone!"

"Come on, let me have some fun."

"I think he's not liking your idea of fun… Is there any way we can go home tonight?"

"Nope. Last train's gone. I don't think that bro's in the mood for any company so we'll have to find a hotel room."

"Oh, no no no _NO_…" Hiro shook his head, "You are _not_ going to share a room with Ayaka."

"What? Don't trust me?"

"Chh… Hardly. I've heard _plenty_ about you. Ayaka's staying with _me_ tonight." Hiro nodded.

"And I am supposed to trust _you_ with her?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'm far more mature and trustworthy than you, that's for damn sure."

"Maybe we could all have a nice sleep-over." Tatsuha leered at Shuichi.

"Ewwww. _Not_."

"Are you gonna go home to your parents' place tonight, Shu?"

"Yeah… I guess I don't have a choice." He shrugged, "You'll be okay with Hiro, Ayaka. You have my vote of confidence for him."

She nodded, "All right."

"You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"Thank you. You've been very kind."

"What about _me_?" Tatsuha wondered.

"Don't care. Good luck." Shuichi waved at him, "Bye!"

"You're a heartless little bitch, aren't you?"

"I've had a rough couple of days because of _someone_ in your family, so you can just look elsewhere for sympathy!" He hissed.

"Yow… _Scary_."

"I'm sure things will work out for the best." Ayaka nodded, "Maybe you should go back and try talking to him again tonight… Maybe he has calmed down a bit. At least you know that you don't have to worry about how he feels about me." She shrugged.

"True… He's not even being nice enough to find out how you are. He's sending _Tatsuha_ to clean up his mess."

"See? He's a dick." Hiro nodded.

"I think he really is a kind person… but there's something that isn't quite right. Something that's troubling him and has been for a long time."

"Yeah, he was a different person when he came home from New York that one time." Tatsuha took out a cigarette, "Okay… I'm off now that the rain has died down. Anyone else?"

They all followed him out, parting ways at the subway. At least Hiro was having a decent night, getting to take Ayaka home with him. Tatsuha just sat on the platform with Shuichi, smoking. Shuichi was trying to ignore him but he was curious.

"So… What happened to him? You said 'when he came back from New York that one time'…"

"I don't really know. No one would tell me about it… I was just a little kid at the time, but even I could tell there was something really, really wrong with him. He just looked so empty, dead inside… and when he started 'getting better' as my parents put it… he didn't trust anyone. He was angry all the time. When he wasn't angry he was just… drugged. The doctors gave him loads of meds. I just think something pretty shitty happened to him there. It's just like our family to cover it up like it never happened, too. Chh…" He exhaled a stream of smoke, reminding Shuichi of Yuki for a sad moment.

"Why did he go in the first place?"

He shrugged, flicking ashes, "Not real sure, but I know that part of it was that it seemed like a good idea for him to study overseas. It was supposed to help him become a respectable and worldly man. That kinda crap… For some reason they haven't shipped _me_ off yet. Heh heh. I doubt they ever will."

Shuichi sighed heavily, "Tell me something… Do you think he… _loves_ Ayaka?"

"No. Not even _close_." He laughed at the notion.

"Then, what's going _on_ with him? Why is he pushing me away? Did I do something wrong?"

"Sorry, it's not you. At least not completely. There's just something going on in his head. Sadly, you're the closest person to him, so if you don't know… no one else is gonna be able to help you."

"Me? You're _kidding_."

"It's true. No one else spends more time with him than _you_ do… He actually talks about you to me… and to Mika…"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously."

"Wow… I didn't know."

"He chews through chicks like gum. You, he keeps around. Who woulda thought? What's so special about _you_ that he likes you better than his own family?"

"Couldn't tell you… but I really, _really_ love him. Even if you say I'm the closest person to him, I feel like I'm a million miles away sometimes."

"Imagine how the _rest_ of us feel." He smirked at Shuichi's frown, "You're gonna have to fight for this one. You up to it?"

He nodded, "I _have_ to be."

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**That's it for chapter 12 - Please Review / Leave Questions =D**


	13. Breaking

**Chapter Notes** - Happy Holidays! To those that have been waiting for this (who are still sticking with it after so long) this is one of hopefully two holiday treats you'll get from me in the Gravitation universe - a cleaned-up chapter 13 for your enjoyment.

Things are rough for Shu-chan, and to me this was a rather tough bit to write, so it's on the short side, but hopefully it won't wear you out when you read it!

I'm glad people are finding the video game aspect of their relationship so... positive? I'm not sure that's the word for it, but several readers have commented that they like it. So do I...

**Please read and review !****  
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A couple weeks later Shuichi found himself not so happy, wandering in the dark park where he used to walk with Yuki when he had writer's block… missing him terribly, sick to his soul with loneliness… _Dumped_… Dumped and shut out by the one person who made him complete. None of the 'fighting' that he'd done trying to save their relationship had worked. Yuki had been cold and vicious at every attempt Shuichi made to see him and talk to him. Looking back on it, it seemed like Yuki had almost been _enjoying_ seeing Shuichi such an emotional wreck.

He had been crying for days, wanting to go back to the apartment and beg Yuki to be his again just one more time… not to leave him alone and in love… but he couldn't even do that. Yuki had gone so far as to move away and didn't leave a forwarding address. The only thing left in the apartment were Shuichi's things—dumped too—in a pile on the floor of the living room.

Even if he _could_ have found him, Yuki hated weakness, and that was all Shuichi had to offer at the moment. Yuki had a life to live that didn't include him but did include a fiancée and an arranged marriage in his near future with no hint of any 'alternative lifestyle' for the media to find out about. Hiro was also upset that the marriage was going to happen but Shuichi had a hard time feeling bad for _him_ at the moment.

"How could this have _happened_?" He sighed heavily, leaning against the railing that overlooked the familiar city view that not too long ago, they'd looked at together.

"Well, _well_… Shuichi Shindou… What brings you out to _this_ particular neighborhood so late at night?"

Shuichi twitched with shock. He thought he recognized Taki Aizawa's voice and turned around, sad to see that he was right.

"N-nothing. Just getting some air." He decided to just walk away… He didn't know the two guys with Taki but they didn't look safe and Taki had really been taking too much of an interest in what Shuichi was doing outside of the studio as of late. Things had really gone way beyond his regular jealous behavior.

"Not so fast…" He grabbed Shuichi by the arm and whirled him back around, yelling into his face. "Where do you think you're going when I'm talking to you?"

"Hey! Fuck off!" He shook loose.

"Just wanted to have a little chat with you, _lover boy_." He grinned wickedly.

"What? Are you high? Get _lost_, Aizawa."

"Walk away now and I'll ruin you _both_. I know all about you and Eiri Yuki."

"You don't know _anything_."

"Oh, I beg to differ. Now, if you don't want to have your sweetheart's career killed, I suggest you give up your _own_, otherwise I'll put you two all over the news in a heartbeat." He flipped a couple photos out of his jacket pocket—compromising pictures of him with Yuki, taken by someone with a pretty high powered camera lens. Shuichi gritted his teeth. It wasn't good at all… but at least Taki hadn't gone right to the media. This guy was just bent on screwing up Shuichi's career. The only thing he wanted out of Yuki was leverage.

"What the _hell_ do you have against me? I've never done _anything_ to you!" He yelped.

"Sure you have, you little shit. Using your connections to get ahead like you have is disgusting… No _kid_ is going to surpass _me_… Do you have any _idea_ how hard I've worked to get us where we are today? _Huh_? And you just waltz in and get all this star-quality attention because you're spreading your legs for that guy..." He was visibly shaking with rage. "So what do you say, brat? Give up music or give up your fuck-buddy's reputation. What's it gonna be?"

"Fuck _you_, Taki Aizawa." He pushed away only to be grabbed again, buckling over from a swift fist to his stomach that knocked the air right out of him.

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well, that's just fine, too… You know, looking at you every day has _really_ been getting on my nerves. So now I'm gonna take it out on you and rearrange your face into something more interesting to look at… Have fun guys. He's all yours." He shoved Shuichi in the direction of the two strangers.

"What the hell are you _doing_?" He gasped, finding out quickly from the taste of blood in his mouth that they were just there to kick the crap out of him for Taki's entertainment, which they were doing with great enthusiasm.

Taki grabbed a handful of his hair and lifted his head off the grass after a while of the punishment, "Awww… Princess broke his crown… Let's have some more fun, shall we? Make some memories for the camera."

"Get _away_ from me… _Asshole_…" He rasped, hardly able to struggle as they started to undress him. When he resisted he got another fist in the stomach… but then suddenly it all stopped with a thump and then a loud cracking noise.

Shuichi was now free and Taki was rolling in a flower bed, howling in pain. One of the other guys was going down for the count, too. The second one just ran for it. Shuichi lifted his head, looking through sore eyes to see Yuki beating the shit out of the remaining stranger where he lay on the ground nearby.

"Yuki…" He coughed up blood, watching him get up from the motionless form at last and come to kneel beside him.

"Shu… Hey… You still with me?"

"Barely… Thanks…" He winced.

"How _sweet_… You came to rescue your Princess." Taki had managed to drag himself to his feet, "He wouldn't even give up his career to save you. You're _done_, Eiri Yuki. I woulda been happy if he just gave up but… oh, well! Guess I'll just have to take _both_ of you down, heh heh… Tomorrow's paper's gonna have your names plastered all over it… Eiri Yuki assaults Taki Aizawa from Ask over an argument with his lover, Shuichi Shindou. I can just see it now, complete with pictures." He gestured to the photos that were now strewn on the ground. "It'll be _glorious_. You're going to _jail_, fucker… and to top it off, you'll never sell another novel again. _He'll_ never sell another song!" He laughed.

"Oh? You really think so?" Yuki smirked at Taki from where he was crouched beside Shuichi.

"I _know_ so."

"I guess I better make it worth my while then, huh, Aizawa?"

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about?"

Taki found out soon enough as Yuki launched off the ground and tackled him hard, commencing to give him the beat-down of a lifetime. At last he stood up again and gave Taki one final solid kick for good measure before gathering up the pictures, putting them in his pocket.

"_Dick_… Didn't think you'd sink so low." He growled.

"You're _done_… You're both done for. It's totally _worth_ it." Taki laughed weakly.

"You don't know _shit_, Aizawa… If you did, you never would have even _thought_ about touching my Shuichi… If I didn't know that living was going to be more painful for you from here on, I'd put you in the ground right now… _You're_ the one who's done… On _my_ say so… You fail to understand how close I am with the NRG inner circle… You came out here tonight to kill a career, and you succeeded… Your _own_…"

"You _can't_…"

"Oh, I _can_… and I _will_… And as a parting gift, since I seem to have sprained my hand on your ugly face and my hands are my tools to write… I'm going to return the favor." He stomped on Aizawa's forearm hard, satisfied to hear a shriek rise from him, "You remember this, shit-for-brains. _No_ _one_ touches my boy. So much as _think_ about trying it again and you'll be in the hospital for the next six months if I don't _kill_ you. That's not a threat, that's a fucking _fact_." He kicked Aizawa over and then returned to Shuichi's side, "Hey… You still awake?"

"Mmmh…" He could only lay there and cry, just so happy to be near Yuki again that it made up for the pain.

"Come on… Let's get you home." He mostly carried Shuichi out of the park, putting him in the car and driving him to his new apartment as Shuichi struggled to stay awake while bleeding all over the car's fine leather interior.

"I miss you… so much…" He gurgled.

"Stop talking… Just _stop_." There was a strange waver in Yuki's voice and Shuichi realized he was crying.

"No… I won't… I _love_ you."

"I know. I know… I love you, too."

"Yuki…" He sighed and slumped against him, "I'm sorry about the blood…"

"It'll come out… Just shut up. _Please_ just be quiet."

He barely remembered being brought inside a building, into an apartment, being in the shower… Yuki was still clothed and soaked to the skin in there with him, trying to clean him up as carefully as possible, hands shaking. There was blood on his beautiful pale face which Shuichi reached toward and wiped away weakly along with the tears.

"It's okay. I'll be fine." He managed to say, wanting so much to comfort Yuki even though _he_ was the one in physical pain.

Yuki's face pressed against his chest, arms hugging, "I'm sorry, Shuichi. I'm so _sorry_."

"It's not your fault." But he couldn't speak any more. Consciousness was waning. The world spun and he clutched at Yuki for stability.

He came around again as the bathing had ended, finding himself bundled in one of Yuki's robes and being persuaded to take aspirin. There in a strange new apartment, he was brought to the bed that he knew so well, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling while Yuki talked on the phone to someone. The words didn't make sense at the moment. He tried to focus a little but it wasn't working.

After a while he felt the weight of Yuki sitting on the bed beside him, looking down on him with an incredibly worried expression. The lights were on for a long while, he was sure, and Yuki spoke to him for a long time, too. Eventually the lights went out in the unfamiliar place. Though he didn't have any idea of where he was, just that the place contained Yuki was enough for him… and he slept deeply with those arms around him, only wondering what would happen next.

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**That's it for chapter 13 - Please Review / Leave Questions =D**


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